


The Song he Sang at Dawn

by L_Leonhardt



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - No Titans (Shingeki no Kyojin), Death Threats, Eren Yeager Needs a Hug, Erwin Smith Being an Asshole, Hiding, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Mates, Mating Bites, Military, Minor Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Mpreg, Omega Eren Yeager, Omega Verse, Poor Eren Yeager, Pregnant Eren Yeager, Prostitute Eren Yeager, Prostitution, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Running Away, Sad Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Secret Lovers, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2019-09-14 12:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16912833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_Leonhardt/pseuds/L_Leonhardt
Summary: When the cadet Eren Jäger joined the secret organization called Wings of Freedom, he did it with only one goal in mind: revenge.Falling in love surely wasn't in his plans, especially not with humanity's strongest soldier.He's afraid Levi will never see him as anything more than a kid, but things start to change when he presents late as an Omega.However, being secret lovers was just the start of the many trials they had to endure to reach their happy ending.





	1. Mutters Lied

The countries of Marley and Eldia had been in conflict for more than a hundred years. In the year 822, Marley declared war to Eldia. The small but rich Island immediately started building three massive walls. During their construction, that lasted ten long years, the King send countless soldiers to their deaths to protect them. Their sacrifice, made possible the salvation of hundreds thousands of people inside of Eldia.

However….

Shiganshina, year 842.

  
The first spring’s flowers were already blooming. Eren Jäger, a seven year old, observed the cherry blossoms petals dance in the wind, and then fall softly on the ground.  
Laying upon the grass, he moved his sight from the petals to the sky. He loved seeing how the clouds moved and dissappeared behind that grey, imposing wall that separated them from the rest of the world.  
How he wished he could ride one of those clouds, fly over the wall and finally see what was out there.  
Then, he saw raven tresses hovering over him.  
“Mikasa,” he raised himself to a sitting position, then turned around to face the girl.  
“Mom needs help with the laundry,” she waited for the boy to get up on his feet, and then they headed home together.

Once home, the two helped their mother carry the baskets full of clean laundry outside. The smell of fresh soap, together with the scent of the blossoming flowers created a warm, picturesque atmosphere. Everything was accompanied with the sweet singing of Carla Jäger, Eren’s beloved mother.  
“ _Zählt mit dir die Tausend Sterne, bis am morgen in der Ferne_ ,” If Eren was ever to be asked what home was, his mother’s singing would be the first thing to come to mind.  
“ _Sich die Sonne zeigt_ _,_ ” Mikasa and Eren started singing along. In truth, the two weren’t siblings by blood. Her parents, along with Eren’s father, died fighting in the war four years prior. The parents of the two children shared a strong bond of friendship.  
That’s why Carla Jäger, despite being a young widow with a child in tow, decided to adopt the little girl, who was only three years old at the time.  
Mikasa knew Carla wasn’t her real mother. Still, she called her mom, and sometimes even forgot she wasn’t. She was the only mother the little girl had ever known.  
“ _Ein Engel bringt dich dann zurück_ -”  
“Eren! Mikasa!” A blond kid was running toward them, carrying a brown messenger bag that seemed to be heavy, judging from the way he was slouching to one side.  
“Armin, why are you running like a ghost’s chasing you?”  
“I need to show you guys something really cool!” He gestured for them to follow them, when Mikasa promptly interposed, “But we’re not done with the laundry.”  
Eren turned around to look at his mom with pleading eyes. She giggled, unable to say no to those puppy eyes, and said, “Go ahead, I’ll finish on my own.”  
Eren’s eyes lighted up, his smile spreading from ear to ear. He ran toward his mother to give her a quick hug, and then left with Armin and Mikasa.

Once they reached a sakura three on the top of a small hill, the blonde kid finally stopped.  
“So? What did you want to show us?” Eren said, hopping in place, eyes brimming with expectation.  
“I’ve been snooping around my granpa’s attic…” Armin put his hand in his bag, and pulled out a rectangular black tome, “…and look what I’ve found!” He esclaimed, proudly raising the book up in the air.  
“Another book on the outside world?!” When Eren started hopping even faster, Armin tagged along and added, “And this one doesn’t have pictures like the other one, but actual photographs!”  
All while Mikasa looked at them and yawned.  
“I’ve always dreamed of going behind the walls to see the ocean!”  
“I want to go behind the walls too!”  
“I’m good here,” Mikasa spoke, and the two little boys stopped to look at her.  
“Really Mikasa? You’re okay with being stuck in the same place?” Eren questioned, disbelief in his eyes.  
“Yep,” She replied simply.  
“Bu-But, the outside world has uncountable wonders, like burning water, lands of ice, fields of sand…”  
“Yeah, whatever,” She stopped Armin before he could go on, and then started walking away, “I’m going home to see if mom needs any help.”  
Eren and Armin remained sitting under the tree for hours, looking at the photographs in Armin’s book.  
“I never thought the ocean was this beautiful…” Eren couldn’t stop contemplating the stretches of sea green water that met the blue of the sky.  
“If it looks like this on paper, imagine how vivid the green will look in person!” Armin smiled, daydreaming.  
“Do you think we will ever see it in person?”  
“Of course! Once the war is over, we’ll be free to go wherever we want. My granpa told me that when he was young, he traveled to Marley with a ship, and then he went to an asian country, where he went on a thing called zeppelin.”  
“Zeppelin?”  
“Yes! It’s like a big, long ballon that floats in the air. I think there was a picture of it in here, let me see…”  
While Armin was flipping the pages, Eren looked up at the sky.  
“Armin?” When the blonde raised his eyes from the book to look at his best friend, he saw him with wide eyes, the mouth agape, and his face pale. Eren pointed at the sky and asked, “Is this zeppelin you’re talking about… something like that?”  
The blonde turned around and saw it. The zeppelin he had just been describing to his friend was there, big and imposing, hovering over the wall. Part of him wanted to shriek with wonder and excitement, but something about it felt terribly wrong. When the seashell emblem came within his eyesight, everything became clear.  
“Eren, that flag…!”  
“They’re soldiers from Marley! We’re being invaded!”  
“We have to tell mister Hannes and the other stationary guards!”  
“No! I have to go home! Mom and Mikasa are there!”

Before Armin could stop him, Eren was already gone. He ran. And ran. He didn’t hear Armin calling his name again and again. He didn’t even hear the first bomb being dropped on the front gate. He didn’t see the people running toward the opposite direction. The only thing he heard, were his steps and the beating of his heart. The only thing he saw, were his mother and his sister’s faces in his mind’s eye.  
When he flung the door open, panic surged through him. The house was empty.  
“Mom! Mikasa!” he called, the tears that filled his eyes already cascading on his cheeks.  
“Eren…?” in that moment, the closet door opened, revealing his mom and sister hugging one another. Eren ran to them, joining the hug. Their mother held them both close, kissing them on the top of their heads.  
“Oh, my babies! Thank god you’re both okay!” their moment was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, followed by screams, “You see an Eldian, you shoot! Women and children, all the same! Kill all of them!”  
The children began shaking in Carla’s arms, “Quick, get in the closet!” she got on her feet, pushing Eren inside of the closet with Mikasa, “Whatever happens, don’t open the door,” she then proceeded to close them inside.  
“But mom, were are you going to hid-” before Eren could finish, Mikasa wrapped her arms around him from behind, putting a hand on his mouth. From the small crack in the door, he could see his mother hurrying to close the front door, but it was too late. Two soldiers had already entered the house. The first went to searching around the house, while the second was pointing his shotgun at Carla.  
“Where do you keep the money, you harlot?” He spat, but Carla wasn’t intimidated, “The vault’s behind that picture,” her voice didn’t quiver, her knees didn’t shake. She stood tall, and strong. They could take away anything they wanted, money, gold, jewels… even her life. But they weren’t going to take away her dignity. Even in a moment like that, Eren couldn’t help feeling admiration and pride for his mother.

He had hoped their money was all those soldiers wanted. He had hoped that once they got it, they would just go away. But just as they stored away their booty in their bags, the soldier asked, “You’re alone here?” to which Carla replied, “Yes. There’s no one else.”  
What came after was the sound of gunshot, and then a dull thump on the floor. Eren started thrashing like crazy, trying to free himself from Mikasa’s grip. But she didn’t let go, not until she was sure the soldiers were gone. If anything, she held him tighter.

Eren and Mikasa were found hours later, by Hannes who had been informed by Armin of their position. Eren was soaked in blood, clinging to his mother’s dead body, while Mikasa was curled up in a corner, crying silent tears.  
“Kids, we need to go, now.” He took Mikasa by her hand and tried to take Eren away too, but the child clung even harder to his mother’s body.

“No! Mom! Wake up!” he cried, cradling her head. Her closed eyelids and peaceful expression really gave the illusion of sleep, if it wasn’t for the blood gushing from the bullet hole in her chest.  
It looked like Carla Jäger had passed away, quick and painless, knowing that her two children were safe.  
“Eren… your mother isn’t gonna wake up…!” Hannes declared with grief, but the child didn’t hear him. He kept bawling, pleading his mom to open her eyes. The man picked him up by force, carrying him over his shoulder. The little boy kept flailing around and screaming, demanding to be let down, “We can’t leave her here! Mom! MOOOM!”

When they walked outside, what they saw was the aftermath of hell. The streets were reeking of blood. Corpes lied in every corner. The Marleyan soldiers had savaged and pillaged, leaving the town destroyed and countless victims behind. The only people who were able to escape the massacre, were the ones who were successful in hiding. Like the two children Hannes was carrying away from that inferno.

Out of the 2000 inhabitants of Shiganshina, only 358 made it back alive. The few hundred survivors, mostly children, were put on a train and sent to the internal territories. Eren and Mikasa found Armin on the train, curled up in a corner, crying his eyes out. Just like Eren, he too had his clothes stained with the blood of a loved one. There were no exchange of words between the three children, just a group hug in which they cried all their tears.

That day, Armin, Eren and Mikasa were left alone in a big, cruel world. Alone, but with each others. While watching the ruins of his beloved town fading in the distance from the train window, Eren clutched his fists and made a vow of revenge: “I will kill all of them! I’ll kill every Marleyan soldier on this earth, until there are no more left!”

 

 

 


	2. An Unbreakable Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I wanted to update yesterday but this chapter turned out longer than I originally expected.  
> I hope you'll enjoy :)

Orvud, January 29th 847.

“You gotta be kidding me, Armin!” Eren was fuming, his cheeks flushed despise the bone chilling cold. Armin had both his hands on his chest, his posture slightly hunched. His best friend had reacted just as he had imagined he would. How the blond had mustered the courage to go and tell him, he himself still had no idea.

“But Eren, Goskritt has one of the best educational programs in the whole world…” Armin tried to explain, meekly. A drop of sweat ran down Eren’s clenched jaw, “I don’t care!” he yelled, “Goskritt’s in Marley, did you already forget what those monsters did five years ago?!”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten that!” Armin protested.

“Then how could you even think of studying in Marley?! You shouldn’t want anything to do with those bastards after what they did!” tears threatened to fall from his bloodshot eyes.

“Eren… I believe the people behind the walls are just like us. They wish for peace just as much as we do,” Armin attempted a diplomatic approacch, but it was hard to reason with Eren when his temper was overshadowing his judgement.

“Bullshit! Do you really believe Marley wants to negotiate a lasting peace? Open your eyes! This armistice was just an excuse to rob us! They’re the enemy that just wants to destroy us!” he screamed, voice trembling, cheeks wet by angry tears.

“If you go there they’ll just stab you in the back when you least expect it! Or even worse, they’ll turn you into one of them! Do you want to pass on the enemy’s side, Armin?! Are you gonna be a disgusting traitor?! Or are you just a coward?!”

“Enough, Eren!” at that point Mikasa, who had been silently watching, shoved her brother and he fell face first in the snow.

“Armin’s neither a traitor nor a coward.”

“You’re both cowards! If you weren’t you would join me in the military!”

“Not everyone wants to waste their lives fighting someone else’s war,” she stated, crossing her arms.

“Someone else’s?!” Eren looked affronted, “I want to fight for our freedom!”

“And me and Armin want to live our lives without all this bullshit!”, Mikasa retorted, and then asked, “Eren, in the tailor shop where I’m interning, they’re looking for an errand boy. Why don’t you come with me?”

“So I can waste my life in small shop instead? No, thank you!” And with that, he runned away. Mikasa sighed heavily, his answer didn’t surprise her in the least. She felt stupid for hoping he could change his mind about enlisting.

“Figures.”

“To be honest, Mikasa, I’m surprised you’re not following him in the military.”

Mikasa was overprotective of Eren. Immediately after the fall of Shiganshina, Eren started talking about becoming a soldier and fightning for Eldia. Worried, Mikasa had always said she was going to join him, to keep him safe. After seeing their mother die, the mere thought of loosing another loved one made her sick to her stomach.  
But everything changed when on the 3rd of August 845, King Rod Reiss signed an armistice that put the confict between the two nations at rest. Believing Eren life wasn’t in danger even if he enlisted, Mikasa opted for a quieter lifestyle, and became an apprentice at the local tailor shop.

“The war has ended. He’ll be fine.”

 

In the dining hall, the children were drooling in the sweet anticipation of dessert. All of them except for Mikasa, who wasn’t very fond of sweets, and Armin.

“I knows he hates Marley, but I thought that he would happy for me…” he had his cheek rested on his hand, looking down, “I though I didn’t even pass test, but I did so well they gave me a Mare Card…”

One of the condition of the armistice, was the prohibition for Eldian people to enter Marley’s territory. Mare Cards where special authorization that were given to people with outstanding abilities, intellenctual or physical, that Marley’s goverment thought would be beneficial to them. Eren used to call them Marley’s lackeys. Did Eren also consider him a lackey now? Armin felt a pang in his chest at the thought.

“C’mon Armin, he’ll realize he’s being an asshole and apologize,” Mikasa tried to cheer him up, munching on her cinnamon roll.

“Are you gonna eat that?” She asked, pointing at his uneaten sweet treat. Armin had been so lost in his thoughts, that he noticed the sugary bun in his plate only after Mikasa had pointed it out.

“You better, since I baked them myself,” a sweet voice chimed in.

“Big sister Frieda!” Armin exclaimed, raising his eyes. The raven haired young woman smiled fondly at them, her blue eyes sparkling in the soft winter daylight.

"Where is Eren? Weird to not see him here stuffing his mouth. Did no one tell him cinnabuns were on the menu today?” she asked cheerily, but at the mention of the brunet, Armin’s eyes clouded and he lowered his gaze yet again. Frieda looked at him worried, and then at Mikasa, “They had a fight,” she explained.

“What?! Eren and Armin?!” She yelled, eyes wide in disbelief. She had worked in the orphanage for many years, but she had never seen a pair of friends that were as close as Eren and Armin were. The thought of them fighting felt foreign and absurd… unless.

“Oh, wait… lemme guess, you told him?” Armin’s gloomy expression was enough to tell her the answer. In response, she winked at him.

“I’ll handle it." she said confidently, before turning her back and heading for the door.

Frieda was beloved and adored by all the children in the orphanage, but no one knew she was secretly the Crown Princess Frieda Reiss, daughter of Rod Reiss the king. If her father ever found out how she helped the orphanage, by buying food, clothes, playing with the children and most of all working like a common peasant, he would no doubt lock her in the golden cage of the royal castle. Like she’s always been since she was born. She was the Crown Princess, but no one in all of Eldia ever saw her face.  
That’s why it had been so easy for her to hide her true identity, and help as many children as possible. That was her mission, and no one was going to halt her from carrying it out.  
Since the age for the orphans to be released was now 15 years old, her biggest worry was to make sure none of them ended up on the streets. It was her who found Mikasa an occupation at the tailor shop, and did the same with many other children.

Eren had alwasy stood out to her. Eyes bright, fierce and strong, so different from the countless fragile children with broken eyes she had seen over the years. Ever since he came to live in the orphanage, at the age of seven, he’d always been saying he was going to enlist. Frieda had never seen anyone with such a clear goal in mind at such a tender age.  
That’s why she hadn’t worried herself much about Eren’s future, but was now starting to lament her own actions. She found him sitting on the fence, and heard little hiccups coming from his small frame. Maybe she had been wrong about him, his fierceness was perhaps only a façade to hide his fragility.

“Eren dear, are you crying?”

“No! I’m not!” he quickly wiped his face clean with his sleeve, “It’s just melted snow.”

She found adorable his poor attempts at hiding his feelings.

“Don’t you wanna come inside to eat something?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I baked cinnabuns for dessert!” she tweeted, hoping the info would lure him inside. The offer was tempting, but Eren decided to stay mad.

“I don’t want any.”

Frieda gasped, “Gosh, it must be serious then!” she then took a seat next to him on the fence. He was trembling, as if he was trying to hold his emotions in.

“C’mon, tell big sister Frieda what’s the problem,” she said, giving him a tender poke on the shoulder.

“He’s a traitor! A big, fat traitor!” he vented, this time not stopping the angry tears from falling from his eyes.

“Who?”

“Armin! He’s betraying our country! He wants to study in Marley, can you believe that?!”

“I know,” Frieda started fidgeting with her fingers, “I helped him send the application...” she fliched, already expecting an angry outburts. Instead, Eren stared at her with his big, green eyes wide open, the mouth agape trying to speak, but no words came out.

He managed to stammer out only a few words, “You… You WHAT? B-But big sis…?!”

“I know you’re confused right now, dear. But you know that Armin’s always dreamed of seeing the world behind the walls.”

“I do too! That’s why I’m enlisting! So I can kill all those bastards soldiers and avenge my mom, and then see the world with Armin!”

“Oh, honey…” Frieda stroked his hair, eyes filled with sorrow and compassion, “Marley is not made of just soldiers. It’s full of people like me and you, who just want to live their lives in peace.”

“I don’t care! They’re keeping us caged, so they’re the bad guys,” his response didn’t surprise her, he was still too young to understand that the world wasn’t in black and white. He still held the childish view that the world was divided in good and bad people, in us and them. Who could ever blame this child, still unaware of the world, for thinking of Marley as his enemy? But she had faith he was going to understand one day.

“But that’s not the only problem, is it?” she asked, running her hand back and fort on his back in a comforting manner.

“We were supposed to go see the world outside together…why is he leaving me behind?” He confessed, looking at his hands.

“Well, then how about you send the application too? Then Armin will help you study for the test!” Frieda suggested, enthustiastically. But Eren buried his face in his hands, once again on the verge of tears.

“I’m not smart, big sis, I’ve never been!” he whined, “There’s no way I’d get a Mare Card like Armin did…”

It was true that Eren though of people with Mare Cards as Marley’s lackeys, but deep within his heart, he truly desired one. Not that he had any intention of ever going to Marley, but they owned the seas surrounding their Island. Which meant, that without a Mare Card, it was impossible for Eldians to leave. They were stuck on their heavenly Island, surrounded by a cage of sapphire blue. Beautiful, but a cage nevertheless. Never would they be able to see the world outside. Most of the Eldians didn’t really care, but Eren wasn’t like them. There’s was nothing he desired more than seeing the world.

“But what if you could? Would you follow Armin to Marley?”

Eren’s answer was immediate, “No, I’d still choose to fight.”

He’d rather fight and die even for a single day of freedom, than live a hundred years in a temporary peace. He was not going to give Marley that satisfaction. He was going to obtain freedom in his own way.

“Ahem,” they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Mikasa, who was holding something in her hand.

“Mikasa! I’m sorry I called you a co-”

“Armin told me to tell you that I saved you this,” she threw a little bundle at Eren, which he was barely able to catch, and before leaving, she added “I did not.”

The bundle was still warm and smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. He didn’t need to open it to know it was a cinnamon roll.

“Armin…” If Eren felt bad for how he had treated him before, he now felt utterly ashamed. It didn’t matter that they had a fight, he knew cinnamon rolls were his favorite sweets and still saved him one.

Frieda put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly, “I think you should tell him how you feel about this. C’mon, go.”

Eren didn’t make her say it twice.

 

If he knew Armin, he would find him in the common room near the fireplace. And predictably, there he was, brooding, with his nose stuck in a book. Eren sat silenty next to him, without saying a word. Armin raised his eyes from his book to look at the unexpected visitor, but when he saw Eren, he furrowed his brows and buried his face in the book again.

“I’m sorry, Armin. I’m an asshole.” Armin lowered his book, looking at his best friend with incredulous eyes. It was the first time he had ever heard Eren admit he was wrong. He thought that big sister Frieda was really able to work miracles.

“I’m sorry for calling you a traitor and a coward.”

“Apology accepted,” Armin said, giving him a smile. Eren split the cinnamon roll he still had in his hands in two perfect halves, and offered one to the blond, “Want to share?”

The other boy gladly accepted the half, and for a while they just ate in silence.

“Do you think of me as a lackey?” the blond asked, out of the blue.

“No. I guess… I got mad because I was jealous.”

“What, why?”

“Because you get to see the world beyond the walls before I do. And I was so mad, ‘cause I always thought we were going to see it together! Instead you’re going alone, leaving me here…”

“Eren, I’m… I’m so sorry, I had no idea you felt that way…”

“It doesn’t matter. We will travel through the world together one day, right? You’ll wait for me?”

Armin nodded with tears in his eyes, the lump in his throat preventing him from talking. He threw his arms around the brunet and locked him in a hug that felt endless.

“So you’re not mad at me anymore, for going to study in Goskritt?” he asked as he finally pulled away.

“I want you to follow your dreams, Armin. But you have to promise me one thing,” Eren said and Armin was all ears, “When the war starts, come back to Eldia.”

“Why are you so sure a new war will start?”

“Just promise me you will if it does. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Eren, you’re… pretty confident we would win if a war erupts.”

“Of course I am! With me on the front line, those Marleyans better start running if they value their lives!”

March came sooner than they had expected. The snow had melted, the swallows animated the spring’s sky once again. Sakura trees were already blooming with flowers. Armin, Mikasa and Eren, who had always been an united trio, were now taking different paths. They said their goodbyes to one anothers with a group hug, and a promise to write to each other as often as they could.  
Mikasa’s intership at the tailor shop ended and she finally started working full time. Armin left for Marley on a ship, while Eren joined the military. With fire in his eyes, he had more determination than all of the other trainees combined.

When the instructor asked him why he was there, his answer was absolute, “For the glory of Eldia!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading until here. Hopefully, Eren and Levi will meet next chapter :)  
> Constructive criticism would be highly appreaciate, as well as any other kind of comment (unless you're rude)  
> <3


	3. The Young Alpha's Envy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys if this chapter is late. I have a good news and a bad news:  
> The bad one is, this chapter is short.  
> The good one, the next one will be up sooner, probably in the next few days.  
> Enjoy :)

Trost, year 850

It was the day of graduation for the 104 training division. 212 cadets had successfully completed their training, and could now join one of the two military corps: the Garrison, which protects and maintain order within the walls, and the Royal Guards.

The latter was a special Military Corps whose role was to protect the King and the royal family. However, the possibility to choose this Corps was only granted to the ten best trainees. In the year 850, the following cadets made it to the top ten:

  1. Eren Jäger
  2. Jean Kirschtein
  3. Marco Bodt
  4. Connie Springer
  5. Sasha Braus
  6. Ymir
  7. Marlo Freudenberg
  8. Hitch Dreyse
  9. Boris Feulner
  10. Floch Forster



There was also a figure among the Royal Guards, that they called the Royal Knight. A personal guard of the King, who had to protect and watch over him 24/7.

The recruit who would fullfill such a role, was chosen by the King himself. For a soldier, it was the highest honour imaginable. Not to mention the privileges that would come with the position.

That was why the King Rod Reiss, accompanied by his eldest daughter Frieda, was attending the graduating ceremony. His old Royal Guard, Nile Dok, had recently turned forty years old. That meant, he was now allowed to retire, and the King needed a new Knight.

Frieda recognized Eren in the front line, standing tall and proud with his usual intense, deathly glare painted in his eyes. He had gotten taller, and more robust. She wouldn’t have recognized him if it wasn’t for that determined eyes, which shone like two perfectly cut emerald stones among a pile of rocks. She smothered the urge to wave at him, not that he would recognize her under the veiled hat she was wearing.

 

 

“I want the Jäger boy,” Rod Reiss declared later that evening, while he and Frieda were having dinner with the higher ups.

“Your highness, are you certaint you want to pick him? We have a lot of worthy candidates this year,” Keith Shadis adviced, but the king insisted, “He’s the strongest, the best of the best. I want him.”

Frieda laughed to herself, _“Oh father, Eren would rather swallow a time bomb than be your lackey,”_ she thought.

“I don’t doubt he’s strong, your highness, but the boy’s too impulsive. The job requires composure and self-control,” Shadis asserted, but the King was adamant about his decision.

“I’ll have Nile tutor him for a little while. I’m sure he’ll learn to control himself in no time,” at this, Frieda couldn’t restrain herself from snorting out loud. All the guests present at the table turned their eyes on her, stunned at the princess’ unladylike way of laughing.

“I’m, I’m sorry father. I just, thought of this really funny joke…”

 

In the meantime, the newly graduated recruits were dining as well, in their less luxurious mess hall.

“Are you really choosing the Garrison, Eren?” at Thomas’ question, Eren simply answered “Yes,” and then went back to consuming his meal.

“That’s nuts! You’re the top of the class, I wouldn’t be surprised if the King will choose you as the new Knight!”

“You know quite well I didn’t enlist to have privileges, but to protect my people, and I can’t do that if I become a Knight. Besides, either Marco or Jean are way better candidates for the job than me.”

“Well Eren, for the first time in three years there’s something we agree on,” Jean chimed in.

“But what if the King really chooses you? You have to accept, you can’t deny a direct offer from the King, can you?” Marco asked innocently.

“Of course I can, and I will,” several people turned to his direction and gasped audibly.

“Leave it, Marco. He’s an irredeemable blockhead,” Jean remarked.

“You’ll regret not fighting back against Marley when they’ll have drained all our resources.”

“Fight, fight, fight, do you even listen to yourself buddy?” he jeered, “Hello? The King signed the armistice five years ago! Didn’t you get the memo?”

“If you really think Marley wants a lasting peace? You’re more stupid than I thought. They offered us an armistice at the condition of paying senseless fees, promising a peace treaty that will never come. Think about it, it’s been five years, how fucking long does negotiating a peace treaty takes?” everyone in the room fell silent.

“Wake up, horseface. Don’t you realize what they’re doing? They’re impoverishing us, making us weak, making us lower our guards. And when they’ll have weakened us enough, they’ll strike again as powerful as ever.”

An eerie atmosphere fell in the room. The recruits were whispering to themselves, appearing to be heavily affected by Eren’s suppositions.

“You have imagination to sell, hotshot.”

“You’re more prickly than usual today, Jean. What, your pompous Alpha ass is mad you ranked after a simple Beta?”

 “You fucking piss me off! That’s it, you’re going down!”

“Come at me, you equine fuck!”

“There they go again,” Connie said, exasperated. Jean and Eren were already at each other’s throats, but they went back their seats as fast as lightnings when they heard the door open, revealing a very displeased Keith Shadis.

“Care to explain what’s going on here? I heard yelling.”

“There was a mouse, sir,” The instructor didn’t seem to believe Sasha’s lie, but he decided to let it go.

“Whatever. We have a visitor,” The bald man took a step back to let someone else in. A raven haired, short man who appeared to be in his early thirties.

“This is Corporal Levi Ackerman,” Shadis added, and all the recruits stood on their feet, saluting.

 _“So this is the mysterious Levi Ackerman,”_ Eren thought to himself, looking at the man in awe. It was the first time he had ever seen him in person. The boy had however heard about his greatness and deeds. In his training years, there was nothing he loved more when after curfew, he and his comrades gathered together to tell each other stories. And most of them, involved the accomplishments of Corporal Levi.

According to those stories, he fought valiantly in the war against Marley. One story said he once defeated 20 soldiers with his bare fists, another told the tale of how he saved a numerous group of children, who the Marleyans had packed on a ship like cattle, to sold them as slaves.

Eren wondered how many of these stories were actually true, but there was one thing that they said about Levi Ackerman, that he could now confirm; he was indeed a handsome man. And on top of it all, he was an Alpha.

“Who of you brats is Eren Jäger?” He spoke, his voice cold, authoritarian. Eren was taken aback, but certaintly not intimidated, “It’s me, sir,” he said, firmly.

“The King has asked of you. Follow me.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

As Eren left with the Corporal, the recruits went to sit back down. The only one still standing was Jean. He was trembling, his face reddened. The veins on his forehead looked ready to explode. Once he was sure Eren, the Corporal and the Instructor were far enough, he walked towards the nearest wall, ignored Marco who had asked him if he was okay, and then punched the wall with all of his force.

“Jean, what is wrong with you?!” Marco cried. Jean was screaming, it was unclear if it was from the pain or for the rage he had within. Marco guessed it was probably both.

“I can’t believe that little shit actually got the job! I’M SO FUCKING MAD, FUCK!” He yelled, holding his injuried hand to his chest.

“Calm down, Jean…” Marco was the only one to rush to his friend’s aid, some of the others were shaking their heads, whispering how much of an idiot he was, while the rest were busy laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to wish you guys a merry christmas, or Yule or whatever you're celebrating. But of course, there's one thing we're all celebrating today: Levi's Birthday! Happy birthday to our favorite grumpy dwarf! xD  
> Thank you so much for reading until here. I really wanted to get this chapter out for his birthday, since Eren and Levi meet here, and I'm happy to say this is where the story truly begins! I hope you'll stay for more :)  
> Comments and construnctive criticism would be highly appreciated <3


	4. The King's Lackey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am so sorry, I know I said I was going to post the chapter sooner, but writing it ended up taking more time than I had anticipated. Also, the chapter was getting too long and I had to split it in two. This is the half I have ready, I hope you'll enjoy!

The sun had already dissappeared behind the high wall. The sky was painted with purple hues that sofly turned to navy blue the higher you looked, and only a few stars hanged here and there in the blue. Eren was sitting in a luxurious carriage pulled by white horses. The seats of wine red leather made the ride comfortable, nothing like transportation vehicles he was used to.

The only person with him was Corporal Levi, who was sitting in the opposite direction, legs crossed, gaze outside the window. Eren couldn’t believe he was sitting face to face with his hero, the man he had idolized in his years as a trainee, the man he strived so much to be like. Could he even dare to believe that one day, he could be as strong as Corporal Ackerman?

The man hadn’t said a single word to him since they left for the Palace. The lad had expected to at least be told why the King had summoned him so suddenly. Perhaps the Corporal thought it was obvious that he had been chosen to be the new Royal Knight, and deemed it futile to inform him verbally. Still, the brunet wanted to ask, just to be sure, but he was afraid his question would have made him appear stupid to the raven haired man.

He wanted to hear his voice. It had already been forty minutes and neither of them had opened their mouths yet, the sound of the hooves was the only thing to be heard. The silence between them was starting to make Eren uncomfortable, he wondered whether or not he should’ve initiated some small talk, but how to talk casually to the strongest man in all Eldia? Did he honestly care about petty mundane things like the weather? What kind of conversation could he and the Ackerman have? While Eren was racking his brain thinking of something to say, to his great surprise the Corporal spoke first, “I heard of you, Eren Jäger.”

“Y-You have, sir?” Eren was baffled. A great Hero of war like Levi Ackerman, had heard of an ordinary boy like him? It was too good to be true. Still, his eyes twinkled in expectation.

“I’ve heard you’re exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat. That’s why the King chose you, but you already know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But I’ve also heard you like picking fights and have a hard time controlling your mouth,” all the anticipation vanished from Eren's eyes. He had been reprimanded countless times for his temper by his instructors and superiors, but hearing it from the Corporal hurt a little more.

“The point I’m trying to make is: behave yourself. Because If you disrespect the King, he’ll have you killed on the spot. Which means I’ll have to be the one to do it. I don’t want a kid’s blood on my hands, so behave, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

The sun was completely down when they arrived at the Palace. Once inside, he was escorted into a simple room. The stone walls were undecorated, and the furniture only consisted of a bed, a toilet and a bathtub. Eren thought that if it wasn’t for the absence of bars, the room would've fully resembled a prison. It almost felt like all his hard work was being punished with an imprisonment. But it didn’t matter, since it was only one night. The following morning, at the audience with the King, he was going to kindly refuse, then go back to the military headquarters and start his duty as a Stationary Guard. Then, wait patiently for Marley to strike, to give him the chance to pay back all the pain they had caused.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the Corporal’s voice, “You’re going to spent the night here,” he explained, “The maids will come shortly to bring you warm water and clean night clothes. And also the clothes you’ll need for tomorrow’s Knighting Ceremony.”

 The Ackerman was ready to leave when he was halted by Eren’s inquiry, “Wait, Knightning Ceremony?!”

“You certainly didn’t expect to become Knight just like that, did you? These formalities are a pain in the ass, I know, but they’re necessary.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Eren bellowed, his voice trembling. Sweat ran down his temple as he realized he had just shout at an high-ranking officer. But the Corporal didn’t seem disturbed by his outburst, he just stood there, arms crossed, leaning against the door with an unreadable expression painted on his face.

Before continuing, Eren tried to regain a little bit of composure, “You talk like everything’s been decided… I can still refuse to become his Knight, right?”

“You can. But I don’t know if you should.”

“What do you mean, Corporal?”

“Let’s just say the King doesn’t like being defied. The last person who refused to be knighted… well, it didn’t end up well for him.”

“He was killed?” Eren asked, but it sounded more like an affirmation than a question. Cold sweats runned down his spine.

“Worse,” was the Corporal’s answer. Eren swallowed loudly. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. Of course the kid wasn’t going to be satisfied with that one worded answer. He had places to go, and a part of him told him that he couldn’t loose his precious time with a brat like him. Still, he was just a young lad who’s life had just being turned upside down. His future was uncertain, he couldn’t blame him for wanting more answers. Surely talking to him a couple more minutes couldn’t hurt.

“He was dismissed from the military. Sure, the official reason wasn’t the refusal of the offer. Not only that, but he couldn’t find any job worthy of his skills after that. Rod Reiss is a petty, rancorous man and he threatened any person who was willing to give him a job. The poor devil ended up working in an old farm.”

“So that’s how it is? Either I agree to this or I end up reaping potatos for the rest of my life?!" Eren had started his rambling calmly enough, but now he was basically yelling, which caused panic to surge within Levi, "I’ll be stuck as that coward’s lackey-” before he could finish, the Corporal put a hand on his mouth.

“Shut up, you moron!” He whispered in irritation, “What did I tell you about the King?! Do you wanna get killed?!”

Eren shook his head.

“Then remember what I told you: behave. I hate senseless deaths, you understand me?”

Eren nodded and Levi finally took his hand away from his mouth, “Good then,” and with the following words, “Good luck for tomorrow, kid,” he left the room.

Eren let his weight fall dead on the bed, and put his hands in his hair. There were no bars, but that place was a prison after all.

 

Just like the Corporal had said, two maids arrived ten minutes after his departure, carrying jars full of boiling water that they poured into the bathtub. They also brought him new clothes, towels and lavender scented bathsalts. His new clothes constisted of a silk pajamas and a white suit.

Once the maids were gone, Eren immersed himself in the soothing warm water. The scent of lavander helped mitigate his rage and frustration. He just wanted to dissappear. No matter how much he had fought, how hard he had trained all those years spitting blood, he still wasn’t free. He had separated from Armin and Mikasa to reach his dreams, and all it had led to was a life of privileges he surely didn’t ask for.

He wondered what Armin would’ve thought. He once accused people with Mare Cards of being lackeys and now he was becoming a lackey himself, the one thing he had always despised. It was beyond ironic. For the very first time, he was regretting not following Frieda’s advice about going to Marley with Armin. Perhaps if he dedicated himself enough to studying, he could’ve passed the test and got a scholarship and Mare Card like his best friend. Perhaps now they would’ve been together on the other side of the wall, like they’d always dreamed. He would have still been a lackey in his book, but at least he could’ve been free. Or more free than he was in Eldia.

He was ashamed of himself for having thoughts like that. Was a partial freedom really worth betraying his country? Eren dipped his head underwater, his wish to dissappear grew even more. Perhaps death was the only thing that could release him from his invisible cage. But then, who would have fought for the Eldians? Who could have freed them from Marley’s oppression?

He hurried out of the bath tub, relaxation led to too much thinking, and his thoughts weren’t doing him any good. He quickly dried himself and changed in his night clothes. He had to admit, the white silk felt amazing against his skin, soft and smooth. Bathing with warm water had also been a wonderful feeling.

But he hated himself for enjoying those things. Privileges surely weren’t what he enlisted for. He did it to fight against Marley, for his people and for their freedom as well as his own. And now he was stuck being Rod Reiss’ lackey? The very man that put the Eldians in that situation? It had to be a joke.

But maybe. Maybe not everything was lost. If he could convince the King someone else was better cut for the job, someone like Marco or…

“Jean! Of course, why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

Jean was the only one that could save him from that hell. Eren knew the young Alpha was ready to do anything to get a cushy job at the Palace. All he had to do was get back to the military headquarters, get Jean, then take him to the palace and have a fight with him. Then he had to make sure the King would see them, and then just loose on purpose. The King would eventually recognize Jean as the strongest one between the two and want him instead.

It was a perfect – in Eren’s opinion, at least - plan.

Eren was sure Jean would have been eager to comply, beating him up and getting the job of his dreams sounded like anything Jean could ever wish for.

In all honesty, Eren actually thought Marco was more deserving of the position than Jean. Eren never understood why the two boys were so close, because contrary to Jean, who only wanted to lead a comfortable life, Marco’s intentions were noble. And Eren believed he could actually help Eldia change from the inside. But the boy was too virtuous and would have never agreed with his plans.

Sneaking out of the castle was no problem for the young soldier. Now, he only needed to get back to the military headquarters. If he ran fast enough, he could make it in two hours, maybe even one and a half if he took the shortcut through the woods. Then another two hours to get back with Jean, and they would’ve made it before dawn. While he was doing these calculations in his head, he caught a glimpse of a hooded figure in the distance. They were leaning his back against a tree, the feeble moonlight shone on the long, hooded cloak. Eren quickly hid behind a tree, trying to make as little noise as possible.

He waited for the figure to go away, but instead, another hooded person joined them shortly after.

“You’re late. We should’ve already joined the others,” said a voice that belonged to a woman. The other person answered in an annoyed voice that sounded familiar to Eren, “I know, I was stuck babysitting that kid.”

It was Corporal Levi!

“Then the King summoned me,” Levi continued.

“What did he want?”

“To inform me I’ll be stuck babysitting the brat again if he accepts to become the Royal Knight.”

“Shouldn’t that be Nile’s job?”

“That asshole washed his hands of the matter.”

And then, they started walking away together. Eren felt a little pang in his chest. Was that how the Corporal saw him? As nothing but nuisance, just an annoying, troublesome brat?

“ _What did I expect? Of course I’m not worthy of his time,_ ” he thought, with an ounce of sadness. Then he remembered his objective: run back to the headquarters. He waited patiently for the two get far enough, so he could resume his run. But while the two were walking further away from him, his ears were able to heard the Corporal say something that caught his interest.

“… and once we’ve found her, we can slaughter the swine and make her the new Queen.”

Did he just hear correctly? They were planning to murder the King? He stood frozen in place, wanting to hear more but their talk had now become just indistinct noises. Adrenaline started rushing through his body, all about Jean and his plan was forgotten. He didn’t need to be the King’s Lackey anymore if the King was going to be killed. And most importanly, all Eldia’s problems had a higher chance of being solved. He knew he had to help them, so he followed them instead.

After twenty minutes, they arrived to what seemed to be an abandoned train. He watched the two walk inside, hidden between bushes. There was a dim light coming from one of the wagon. With caution, he walked closer to the wagon’s side and climbed it to take a peek inside. From the window, he saw a group of people who were sitting around a table. He recognized a lot of faces belonging to veteran soldiers: Petra Ral, Oluo Bozard, Eld Gin, Günther Schultz, Nanaba and Mike Zacharias.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Even the Military Commander, Erwin Smith, was there. And the woman with Levi, she was Hanji Zoë, the military’s doctor.  Just how many people were plotting to take down the King? He couldn’t blame them. And of course, they could now count him in too.

While climbing down, his foot slipped and he fell on several tree branches. Needless to say, the crunching sound allerted the people inside the wagon, and before he had the time to bring himself back on his feet, he was surrounded by several people. Before he even had the chance to open his mouth, he received a blow to the head, and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed as always, so don't be shy and leave a comment <3


	5. Wings of Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIIIIIVE! God, it's so good to be back working on this. Sorry for the wait guys, I had a lot of work. I'm not sure I can come back to my schedule of a chapter per week yet, but I'll try to get at least another chapter out by the end of the month. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy this one :)
> 
> P.S.  
> I've slighly edited the previous chapters, no major changes, though.

“Don’t you think we should at least give him a chance to explain himself?” Hanji tried to reason with them.

“Explain what, how he was spying on us? We let him go and we’ll find the royal pigs outside our door in less than a minute,” Oluo said and most of the others seemed to agree with him, however, Petra was the only one to voice her disagreement.

“I agree with Hanji, we don’t know how much he’s heard,” she said.

“Tch, that’s why women shouldn’t be allowed in the military. You’re too soft.”

“Oh shut up Oluo, do you even know who he is? That’s Eren Jäger, he ranked first among the top ten, and the King choose him to be the new Royal Guard.”

“One more reason to dispose of him! He’s the King’s lackey!”

Petra slammed her fists on the table, “You’re missing the point!” she shouted, “If he disappears just like that, it won’t go unnoticed!”

“Petra’s right,” Erwin, who had been silent until then, spoke. “We need to make it look like a suicide, or an accident.” The already gloomy atmosphere became tense.

“So we’re really killing him then? I thought this organization was born for the sake of the Eldian people, not to kill the innocents...” Hanji and a few others couldn’t help but feel defeated, but when they founded their organitazion, they knew there would eventually come a time when they’d have to do dirty work. Things they were not going to enjoy, nor be proud of. Most of the people there had fought in the war, and while their hands were anything but clean, killing someone of their own people was a totally different thing.

“If he’s a threat, his death will be for the greater good. Now we only have to enstablish how to do it.”

 

 ***

While the others were deciding on his fate, Captain Levi was in a separate wagon with the still unconscious boy. Levi had volunteered to watch over him, and also to interrogate him once he’d woken up. The brunet was tied to a chair, and the way he was sleeping with his head tilted on one side looked extremely uncomfortable. Levi thought that he was surely going to have a stiff neck once he woke up, but that was the least of the things that could happen to him. Just the thought of what he would have had to do, in the case the others decided to dispose of him, made his entire body tense up.

Eren was slowly regaining his senses. His blurried vision became more and more stable, as he looked at his surroundings. The old train wagon wasn't as rusty and abandoned on the inside as it looked on the outside, everything was well kept and clean. It didn't have any passengers seats in it, just a table and few chairs.  

Then, the brunet's eyes saw a figure in the dim candlelight. It belonged to a man, who stood with his back leaned against the wall, arms crossed. It took him a few istants to recognized the man to be Levi Ackerman.

“Mhmh mhhah!” It was only when he tried to talk that he realized he had been gagged. The man walked toward the boy, and then removed the cloth that was preventing him from speaking.

“C… Corporal Levi…?” Eren stuttered. The Corporal looked beyond displeased. His eyebrows were furrowed, lips pressed into a hard line.

“What did I tell you about behaving yourself? Good kids don’t go wandering into the woods after curfew. Why the fuck were you following me?” He demanded in an ominous tone.

“I wasn’t following you, I just wanted to get back to the military headquarters,” what he said made the Corporal raise an eyebrow.

“Why?” he asked, sceptical.

“I had a stupid plan to convince the king of making someone else the Royal Knight, but it doesn’t matter now! I’ve heard you’re plotting to kill him and I want in!”

“What…?” Levi was baffled. From their brief interactions earlier at the palace, he had understood that Eren didn’t particularly like the King. But did he really despised him that much, to the point of wanting to join a group of total strangers, just to bring him down? And trusting said strangers blindly... How foolish could that kid be?

“Whatever you’re planning, I want in!”

“Do you even realize what you’re saying, kid?” Before Eren could reply, they were interrupted by the Commander and the others.

“He’s awake, good. Could you get anything out of him already?” Erwin asked.

“He says he wants to join us.” At Levi’s statement, most of the people started laughing.

“Do you really think we’re gonna fall for that?” Nanaba asked, rhetorically.

“I really want to help you bring down the King!”

“Ha! As if a brat like you had what it takes.” Oluo snickered, and it made Eren’s blood boil.

“I do!” He protested.

“Don’t try to fool us boy, we know you’re the King’s lackey!” Günther said, looking at him menacingly.

“Lackey?!” Eren looked deeply offended by the slander. He was about to continue when he was distracted by Mike who was sniffing his nape.

“Lavender,” he said, then touched the collar of his pajama, “and silk. It seems to me you’re already accostumed to the life at the Palace.”

“No! That’s not like that!” He countered, but it was like he had just talked to a wall. Before he could explain, the commander added, “I’ve seen even the most noble of people being changed by a luxurious life. Once you get used to those privileges, it’s hard to go back.”

“I…!”

“He’s definitely a spy. Rod Reiss is way off if he thinks we will spare him just because he’s a kid.”

“No, I’m…!”

“This newbie chose the worst strategy ever to fool us.”

Those people were painting a picture of him in which he didn’t recognize himself at all. Not only that, they weren’t even letting him give his side of the story. His rage reached the highest point, and he let it all out.

“ALL OF YOU SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!” His angry outburst had everyone speechless.

“Do you think I give a shit about the privileges and living in the Palace?! That’s not why I joined the military! I did it to fight for Eldia, for my people’s glory and for their freedom! I’m not that coward’s lackey and I wouldn’t be for all the gold in the world! It’s his fault we’re in the condition we’re in! Our economy is going down and we’re stuck on this island like cattle! I enlisted because I wanted to free Eldia from Marley, not to serve the King!”

Levi watched in awe the fire burning in his eyes, never before had he seen someone with this determination, “… not bad.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but it seems to me this boy has all that it takes to become a member of Wings of Freedom,” Hanji said.

_Wings of Freedom_ … the name alone was alluring enough to convince Eren to join them, as if he wasn’t convinced enough already.

“Does he even know what we do here?” Eld wondered, since he couldn’t have possibly heard that much, and of course no one in the room had explained anything to him yet.

“All he knows is that we’re plotting to take down the king.” Levi informed him.

“Didn’t you hear him? His objectives are the same as ours.” Hanji said, persisting in her idea that they should let him join the team. But Erwin was still reluctant.

“We can’t trust him,” he said, “If he knows our objectives so well, it can only mean he’s a spy who’s acting as a double agent for the king.”

Eren was starting to get frustrated.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not his lackey! I haven’t been knighted yet, and I don’t want to!”

“Erwin, I’ll take responsibility of him,” Levi intervened, and everyone turned around to look at him, “If he betrays us, I’ll kill him.”

“I’d never betray you! I’d rather DIE than betray you!” Even though Levi appreciated his spark and energy, the young man’s temper was starting to get on his nerves. So he gave him a glare that said _Shut the fuck up or I’ll shut you up_. Luckily, Eren seemed to have understood.

“We will see about that. But Levi, I trust your judgement. Untie him.” The commander ordered, and they finally started cutting the ropes around Eren’s body.

“Eren, do you really want to join us?” Levi asked him, once he was set free.

“Yes sir!”

“Then you’ll have to accept the King’s offer and be a spy for us. You okay with that?” Eren had made pretty clear how much he despised the position of Royal Guard. But if it was for the greater good of Eldia, he was more than willingly to do it. Levi knew this, and hoped the others would see in his positive answer the proof that he was indeed on their side.

“Yes. I’ll do it.”

“Fist on the heart, cadet.” The corporal ordered and Eren did the usual salute faster than he ever did. A few members mumbled between themselves, “We’re really going ahead with this?”

Levi ignored them and continued.

“Eren Jäger, are you ready to sacrifice your heart for Eldia, to completely dedicate yourself to the cause?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Are you ready to offer up your life, should the need arise?”

“Yes.”

“Now, the last step. Mike, grab the tools.”

“Yes, sir.” He said and retreated into the other wagon.

“Let’s start the initiation ceremony.”

“Initiation?” Eren asked, confused.

“We’ll leave a permanent mark of your skin,” Hanji explained, “Something to show that you belong to Wings of Freedom.”

“To test your determination and loyalty to us,” Eld added, “We all have one.”

And then, they showed him their marks. It was a tattoo. A pair of overlapped wings, one blue and the other white.

“These are the Wings of Freedom.” Levi proudly stated, while showing him the mark on his forearm. Petra had it on her calf, Hanji on her shoulder, while the rest of them had it on their upper arms.

“That’s so cool…” Eren was in awe. He had instantly fallen in love with the wings’ design, and most of all with what they represented. He was really doing, fighting for Eldia’s freedom. His dream was finally coming true. The boy was itching with the desire of having those wings permanently imprinted on his skin.

Mike came back with his toolbox He laid it on the table, and started taking out black ink and something that looked like a pen to Eren. He surely couldn’t have imagine the utensil was made up of a dozen of tiny needles.

“I’m not gonna lie kid, this is going to hurt.” Mike warned him, and Eren, raising an eyebrow, retorted with, “What kind of soldier is scared of pain?”

Levi smirked, and commented, “Well played, kid.”

“So, where do you want it?” The taller man asked. Eren didn’t even need to think about it. He slammed his fist on his chest and, full of confidence, he said, “Right here.”

The procedure took a good forty minutes, and for all the duration, Eren didn’t even flinch. They didn’t want to admit it, but they were pretty impressed.

Once the process was over, they handed him a mirror. Eren felt giddy and proud seeing the emblem eternally engraved on his honey skin. He saw the corporal join him in the reflection of the mirror, standing behind him.

“You’re now officially a member of Wings of Freedom.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading up until here! Comments and constructive criticism will be highly appreaciated, as always :)  
> Also, if you like Reincarnation AUs, it would made me really glad if you went to check out my other Ereri fic "With you in the Present"
> 
> Check out my tumblr, if you want (beware that is not spoiler-free!)  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/l-leonhardt
> 
> See you next chapter! <3


	6. The Knighting Ceremony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have crawled back from the depths of hell to deliver this chapter to you guys. I've been through some shit, but I'm pulling myself back together. You have no idea how happy I am to be able to work on this fic again. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

When the sun shone high on the next day, Eren’s Knighting Ceremony had place. He was knighted by the king himself, surrounded by noblemen and the most important military personnels. His friends who choose the royal guards still hadn’t been moved to the Palace, and Eren was grateful he could spare himself the humiliation of looking like an hypocrite in their eyes, at least for another day. But that was the least of the sacrifices he was willing to make for Eldia.

The Knighting Ceremony was usually the most important day in the life of a knight, one every aspiring one dreamed of. A memory they would hold and treasure for the rest of their days.

For Eren though, it was just a rite of passage. A step closer to begin his mission. He couldn’t wait for the whole pantomime to be over.

It had been the longest, most wearisome day of his life. The maids had woken him up as the sun rose, dressed him in white, and lead him to the throne room where the tedious, exceedingly and unnecessarily long rite begun.

As the first thing, the pastor delivered a sermon about chivalry and the duties of a knight. Eren however, hadn’t been able to focus on a single word pastor Nick had spoken. The youth’s mind kept going back to the conversation he and the Corporal had, the previous night, when the latter walked alongside him on their way back to the Palace.

“The King has another daughter,” he had said, “An illegitimate child he had with a former palace wench. This is what you’ll have to do, Eren. You’ll have to gather information about her whereabouts as soon as you can. You’ll be the King’s shadow from now on, so it should be doable.”

“I will. But… I don’t see how this will help our cause.”

“Do you know why Marley hates us so much?”

“Of course. It’s because of the old grudges between the royal families, the Reiss and the Tybur.”

“And do you remember what caused the war, twenty-eight years ago?”

Eren knew it was something King Reiss did. An affront so extreme, King Tybur could never forget. Eren had yet to be born when it happened, and he never cared to learn more about it, for in his eyes nothing could justify the suffering Marley had brought upon them.

“I don’t know… But that’s all bullshit anyway, that’s just their excuse to rob us. They’ll make up any lie for a pretext to attack us.”

Levi knew there was truth to the words he spoke. The raven haired admired the brunet's passion, the fierceness in his eyes and his youthful force and spirit. However, Levi knew rage and resolution alone weren’t going to bring him anywhere. Now that he had decided to be the youth’s mentor, he knew he needed to guide him and teach him where to direct that passion.

“Eren, you need to be informed on the facts, or else you won’t be able to judge what move to make next. The Lost Princess may be Eldia’s only hope. As long as it’s Rod Reiss representing us, Marley will never be able to let this go. That’s why we need to find his daughter, and make her the Queen.”

“But what about the King’s other daughter, Frieda Reiss? Why don’t we just kill him so she can be the Queen?”

“I wish it was that easy too. But Eldia needs a new monarch, someone who won’t be associated with the royal family. Even if she effectively is a Reiss, the lost princess is our best bet.”

“But… then we’ll have to kill Princess Frieda too…”

“We won’t. Unlike her father, she’ll abdicate in her favor.”

“But what if Princess Frieda refuses to abdicate in her half-sister’s favor?”

“She will. Trust me.”

The Corporal had spoken those words with such confidence. Eren wondered if there was something the Wings still hadn’t told him. Bu what, and why? Why didn’t they tell him? Hadn’t his speech and the initiation rite been enough to win their trust?

“Well, I’ll see you at the Ceremony,” They had separated in the Palace’s hallway. Since he was given the task to mentor him, the Corporal was going to stay at the Palace for a long while, “Remember what I told you: behave.” He had said, solemn, before turning his back to Eren and leaving for his own quarters.

“Corporal?”

“What now?”

“I’m… sorry for all the trouble I’m causing you.” At this, the Corporal sighed. Even in the pale moonlight piercing through the high windows, Eren could’ve sworn to have seen Levi’s expression soften, ever so slighty. Unexpectedly, the Corporal had gotten closer to ruffle his scruffy brown hair.

“Don’t worry about it, kid.” It had been just a small gesture, but the boy had never expected the Corporal could be so… soft. Almost fatherly. Levi was going to be his mentor from now on, both for the Wings of Freedom and for the King. Eren was worried the man might have resented him for boring him with so much work, but the Corporal didn’t seem bothered at all. He had gladly taken the boy under his wing. So why wasn’t Eren happy? He never had a father, his own died in the war before he was old enough to remember. Much less a father figure. The only leading figures he had in his life were female figures: his mother Carla, his sister Mikasa, and of course, Frieda. He should be happy to have finally found a male role model. So why wasn’t he? Why did something in his inside churn at the thought of Levi seeing him as a mentoree? As a protege?

“Eren Jäger, come forth and kneel before the throne.”

The voice of the King calling his name snapped him back to the present. Once he was in front of the king, the brunet had to fight against the disgust and contempt he felt for himself, as he kneeled before his monarch and soon-to-be liege. The very man he had despised the most in his life. He was only able to carry through thanks to the words of the Corporal, which played like a mantra in his head: _remember what I told you, behave._

“Be it known to all men that I, Rod Reiss King of Eldia, am minded to raise Eren Jäger by virtue of his honor, loyalty, valor, and skill at arms, to the high rank of knighthood.”

“Eren Jäger, do you swear and acknowledge King Rod Reiss to be your true and lawful liege?” Pastor Nick asked him, and Eren guessed this was the moment he was apparently given a choice. The choice to refuse being knighted. He wasn’t asked in private, before the ceremony begun, but here. In front of dozen of aristocrats and high ranking officers. Now he was starting to understand why the last person who refused ended up like he did. Denying his services to the King, during a pageantry like that, required either great courage or great foolishness.

But Eren admired the person who had had the courage to turn down the King. Just like he himself would’ve had, had he not been given the mission he was given. Which, was what drove him to speak the following words with great fervour, “I do swear.” His eyes shone with the fire of pure, sheer determination, and the King’s eyes glistered with glee. If only he knew, that Eren’s loyalty was directed to Eldia, and not him.

“Do you also swear fealty to the King, to defend and obey him until he depart the throne, or death shall take you?”

“I do swear.” He said once again. Then, the pastor recited a vow that he was to repeat;

“I, Eren Jäger, do solemnly swear and pledge my sword to King Rod Reiss, my liege, to defend and obey him until he depart his kingdom or death shall take me, and to uphold the honor of knighthood.”

The King then tapped him with his sword on both shoulders, officially bestowing on him the title of Knight.

“I dub thee Sir Eren Jäger. Receive now my sword, to your side to serve and defend me well. Arise, Sir Knight.”

Eren stood up, and a group of maiden then dressed him in his new suit of armour. It was heavy, and was going to take some getting used to, but Eren was glad the ceremony was finally over. Well, the worst part of it at least.

Or so he thought. What followed were hours of celebration in the royal gardens, to which even the new royal guards were invited. Except for Ymir, all his friends from the top ten had chosen the guards. They merrily congratulated him, telling him he’s made the right choice in accepting the job. Everyone but one.

The looks of absolute contempt he got from Jean… his glare was so intense, Eren could almost feel his fists on his face. Not that he blamed him. He felt shame and contempt for himself too, but the dream of a free Eldia was sweet enough to help him swallow those feelings down.

Marco patted Jean lightly on the shoulder, gently prompting him to go and congratulate to their comrade too. Jean rolled his eyes, but complied to his best friend’s silent request.

“Congratulation,” He said with a grudge, then added, “You just graduated from a suicidal bastard to a two-faced bastard.”

“Please don’t start, Jean...”

“It’s not like I had much of a choice. I had to accept.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Marco said with relief, “I was afraid you were going to make a scene and the King would’ve had you beheaded.”

“Better a headless bastard than an hypocritical bastard.” Jean commented, but Eren knew better than to give in to the taller boy’s provocations. The Corporal was eyeing him from afar, and he could hear the tacit word _behave_ loud and clear.

“Eren!” A familiar voice called him out, and when he turned around to see who it was, his smile went from ear to ear.

“Mikasa!?” The raven haired girl threw her arms at him, encircling him in a hug. Regrettably for both of them, Eren’s armour was preventing them from feeling each other’s warmth. But even just being so close after years apart, was gonna suffice for the two. Eren could still feel her cheek against his own, could still feel her hand on his hair. His sister smelled so sweet. Of raspberry and roses. Was she wearing perfume?

“I’ve missed you so much, Eren…!”

“Me too, Mika…!”

“I wish Armin was here to see you.”

“See how I became everything I’ve always hated?”

“Eren…” Mikasa had suspected Eren hadn’t become the new Royal Knight entirely out of his own will. But she hoped that he could be at least happy, had hoped he would eventually let go of his foolish dream, and settle up to his new life at the Palace. She should’ve learned by now that her hopes were all vain when it came to her brother.

“I’m not giving up Mikasa. I’m still fighting for Eldia, just not as I thought I would.”

“What do you mean? Eren, please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t worry about me, Mikasa. I will be just fine. More than fine.”

“You smell really good. Are you wearing perfume?” She had just stolen his line.

“No, I guess it’s just the lavender bath I took yesterday night.”

“Lavender? No, you don’t smell like lavender…” Mikasa started smelling him, and Eren felt uncomfortable at best. Why was his sister acting like Mike all of a sudden?

“I smell cadamom, and anice and… I think musk?”

“Are you a dog or something, Mikasa?”

“Oh, right! I forgot to mention it in my last letter. I’ve presented as an Alpha.” Now, that explained her sweet scent.

“That’s good for you, Mikasa! Alphas do wonderfully in the military, it’s still not too late for you to enlist.”

“Please, you know I like my peaceful lifestyle. Eren, could it be that maybe you’re an Omega?”

“An Omega? What are you saying, Mikasa… I’m a Beta, I’ve been tested when I enlisted. And besides, I’m fifteen already, if I were an Omega I think I’d know by now.”

“I know, but you could be presenting late, like me.”

“That’s not possible.”

“My doctor told me, that kids who’ve been through traumatic events show a delay in the development of their secondary gender.”

“That can’t be. I’m a Beta, I know I’m a Beta.”

“Then how do you explain this smell you have? It’s faint, but it’s there. I think you might be developing your scent glands.”

Could it be that the maids who dressed him that morning had sprayed perfume on him, and he didn’t take heed? A lot was going through his mind then, perhaps that was the simple answer to this scent mystery. There was no way he was an Omega. No way. After the war, Eldia had had the need to replenish the population after all the losses they suffered. That’s why Omegas were no longer accepted into the military. They were treated as precious resources, given food and a decent home as long as they gave offsprings to the motherland.

Even the Alphas stopped joining the military in recent years. Although they were still allowed to enlist, most of them preferred staying at home to care and provide for their Omegas and their children.

Eren admired both of them, their job was vital to the restoration of Eldia. But that couldn’t be Eren’s destiny, no. His role was to fight, the military was the place where he belonged. There was no way his fate was to stay at home and birth children. It’s not that he didn’t want kids, just not like that. Not in that moment. Not before setting Eldia free.

“It’s probably just cologne, Mikasa. The maids must have sprayed some on me this morning when they were getting me ready. I was too drowsy to notice.”

“Maybe you’re right. But…” Mikasa took Eren’s gloved hand in both hers, “If you really are an Omega, remember you can always come to me. I’ll help you find a job and an accommodation.”

“Thank you, Mikasa. But that won’t be necessary. They’ll have to walk over my dead body to kick me out of the military.”

Mikasa chuckled to hide her worry. She knew her brother was stubborn, not even the nature of a secondary gender was going to stop him from reaching his goal. There was no one in the world more tenacious, obstinate and foolishly courageous than him. It was Mikasa's worst fear, that the fire in his eyes would one day turn him to ashes.

 

Later that evening, Eren was escorted to his new lodging, by no other than Corporal Levi and a few other guards.

“You did good today, Eren,” The raven haired man complimented him placidly, “But know that this is just the beginning. Tomorrow, we’ll start your training.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have a good night rest, you’ll need it.”

“Yes sir, you too, sir.”

While leaving, Levi brushed his shoulder against Eren’s. In this short time, he stealthily put in the lad’s hand a crumpled piece of paper, making sure the other guards wouldn’t see him.

Once Eren was sure he was alone, he opened the small piece of paper, that read:

_Meet me in the woods at midnight. And burn this message._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get... spicy, from now on, my dear fellow Ereri shippers ;) I hope to see you all in the next chapter, and as always, comments and constructive criticism are highly appreciated, any time, any day :)
> 
> Edit: I forgot to mention a couple of things! I've slightly edited chapter 5, and most importantly, I changed the song Eren's mother sings in chapter one with a lullaby I find more fitting. As you can tell by the title, the song will be important later on ;)


	7. Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. I'm so fucking sorry this chapter is so late, I have no excuses.  
> I just hope you'll enjoy this chapter :)

 

Once he got inside his new room, Eren approacched the first candle that came in his eyesight. That being the one standing on his new magohany writing table. He watched as the message Levi had given him burned right before his eyes. Once it was reduced to ashes, he got rid of the evidence by throwing them outside the window. Then, once his duty was done, he collapsed on the chair.

An Omega. Could he really be an Omega? Like his mother? Her sweet scent still filled his nostrils everytime he thought about her. Fresh cotton on a sunny day, warm rosewood and sweet lilies. He remembered how she used her scent to calm both him and Mikasa down during stormy nights, how warm her embraces were.

He leaned his elbows on the writing table, running his hands through his hair. An Omega. He would have actually loved being an Omega like her, given different circumstances. He would’ve loved bearing children and having a family. If only…

If only those Marleyan soldiers hadn’t invaded their home. If only Carla Jäger hadn’t died that day. If only their King weren’t keeping them caged, inside those three walls. If only this fire inside him didn’t tell him to keep fighting for freedom, no matter the cost. Could he really be able to accept it, if he was an Omega? Would he have been able to find a new purpose in his Omega status, if his dream of freedom was to be snatched from him?

His pondering was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

“Uh, come in.” He said, getting up from his chair. For a moment, he wondered if it was the Corporal again. Or maybe he had only hoped so, since he couldn’t help feeling a slight disappointment when a young girl enter through the door. She appeared to be in her early twenties, and Eren recognized her to be one of the maids who got him ready that morning.

“Good evening, Sir Jäger,” she said, curtsying. Eren was overflowed by a sense of uneasiness. If felt so out of place to be addressed as ‘Sir Jäger’, and ever more so having people bowing before him.  

While Eren was looking at her like he had just seen a pink horse devouring an imp, the poor maid continued, “My name is Marie Darling. I’ll be your personal maid from now on, Sir.”

She gave him a friendly smile and Eren relaxed a bit. Still, his uneasiness wasn’t so simple to wash away.

“Uh… okay.” He said, tentatively. Marie however, who seemed to have understood his discomfort, decided to drop all formalities and started talking to him more blithely.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” she reassured him, twirling one of her red curls around her finger.

“Like you, many of the previous Knights came from poor families. It’s weird to have people at your service at first, but they got used to it pretty soon.”

“I don’t think I can ever get used to all of this… but thank you, Marie.” He said, offering her a small smile.

“You’re very welcome. Do you want me to prepare you anything? A bath? A cup of tea?”

“No I’m good, thank you Marie. Y-You’re dismissed, I guess. Sorry, I’m not really used to these formalities…”

“I understand perfectly, Sir.” She said sympathetically, going back nevertheless to her formal speech.

“Oh! I almost forgot. I’m supposed to help you out of that armour.”

“Yeah… It is kind of heavy.”

“You’ll get used to that as well.” She reassured him. In truth, he had only rememberd about the hefty armour he was wearing thanks to her comment. The worry he had over his secondary gender, was much heavier to carry. It took a few minutes for her to dismantle all the pieces of the armour, most of the time they spent in silence. Then Eren spoke, “It must be weird for you too, huh? Taking orders from someone younger than you…”    

“Not at all, Sir. I used to be the personal maid of Miss Histo-” Marie stopped, her deep brown eyes widening, like she had just been bitten by a venomous snake.

“Marie…?”

“Uh, nevermind, Sir! With your permission, I would go sir…” She said, lying the final piece next to the wardrobe. Seeing all the pieces of his armour lined neatly on the floor, Eren thought it was going to be a hassle for both of them to reassemble them every morning.

“Sure. Goodnight, Marie.”

“Goodnight, Sir Jäger.” She curtsied once again before heading straight to the door. But before she could step foot outside, Eren remembered something very important he needed to ask her.

“Wait, Marie?”

“Yes?” She turned back, her torso rigid and her eyes unblinking.

“This morning, when you and the others were getting me ready for the ceremony… did you spray perfume on me?” Relief seemed to have washed over her at his question, as she let out a soft chuckle.

“Perfume? Oh no, absolutely not, Sir. The soon to be Knight must be pure before the ceremony. No perfume, jewellery or anything of the sort.”

“I see…” Eren did his best to force out some giggles, while scratching the back of his nape.

“My sister said I smelled weird… I guess it must have just been something I ate, haha…”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to prepare you a bath, Sir? I mean, not that you smell bad or anything, you smell really good actually… Uh…” Marie’s face was getting as red as her hair. Eren guessed it was probably complementary to his own, from which he could actually feel the blood get drained out. If even Marie had noticed his smell, then something was definitely going on with him.

“I’ll just shower in the morning. Thanks Marie, goodnight.” To end both of their distress, he decided to send her away. Marie didn’t need to be told twice, and after giving him the goodnigh again, she left.

Once Eren was left alone, he put his hands in his hair.

“Fuck… Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Eren was never religious, but he started praying to all the gods that if he indeed had a secondary gender, for it to be Alpha an not Omega. Being an Omega would’ve ruined everything. Even being chosen as the Royal Knight, a thing he saw as curse, turned out to be a blessing in disguise in the end. But being an Omega? There was no way out of that mess.

Another knock on the door almost startled him. Had Marie forgotten something?

“Eren!”

“Open up, buddy!”

Recognizing those cheery voices, he went to the door. As soon as he opened it, he was attacked by Sasha and Connie’s hugs.

“Ereeen!!”

“Congratulations again, pal!”

“Mind if we come in to take a look at your place?”

“You guys are already in anyway…” He mumbled, slightly annoyed, but he still smiled fondly at his friends.  It had only been a day, but it had felt like he hadn’t seen them in ages.

“Whoa, look at that!” Sasha said, launching herself on the canopy bed, “These sheets are sooo soft!”

“This room is even bigger than Jean and Marco’s!” Connie commented, looking around in awe. Eren hadn’t really looked around since he got there, so he was actually noticing everything for the first time, together with them. All the fornitures were in mahogany, the floor was made out of white marble, the windows adorned by golden curtains, made of an embroidered soft fabric. The walls, embellished by several paintings, were of a delicate azure colour. All that luxury made Eren want to vomit.

“You’re so lucky to have all this space to yourself.” Sasha said. The Royal Knight was the only person in service of the King who was allowed a suite of his own, all the other had roomates. A little bit more of privacy was surely nice, but Eren wasn’t really excited at the thought of spending his nights alone. He just wasn’t used to it. In the orphanage, they all slept in the same room, crammed together like sardines. And during the training days, it wasn’t much different. Eren actually loved it. Hearing the other’s snores and breathing helped him sleep. Helped him get away from that day in Shiganshina. Helped him forget about the screams he still heard when he closed his eyes.

“I’d rather share a room with one of you guys.” He said.

“I’d gladly switch with you! My roomate is that obnoxious Hitch. I was paired up with her because we’re the only girls here. I wish Ymir had joined the royal guards too…”

“It’s not like Ymir would be much better...” Connie muttered.

“So Ymir joined the Stationary Guards, huh?” Eren and Ymir were never really close friends. In fact, Eren could remember only a couple of times they talked to each others. But now that he had learned she turned down the royal guards to join the stationary instead, he had found a total new respect for the girl.

“Yep. Weird, huh? She was always so sure about wanting to join the Royal Guards.”

“Only a prodigy can understand how that girl’s mind works, really.”

“Connie, you really don’t like Ymir, do you?” Eren observed. Ymir didn’t really get along with many people, outside Sasha and a few others.

“It’s not my fault she did everything she could to be unpleasant.”

“Oh c’mon, she wasn’t so bad!” Sasha protested.

“By the way Eren, we’re having a little party in Jean and Marco’s room.”

“A party?” Eren raised his eyebrows, “Do you guys want to be thrown out on the first day?”

“Stop being so serious!” Sasha gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder, “We busted our asses to get here, we deserve to have a little fun, don’t we?”

“C’mon man, you’re gonna come with us, aren’t you?”

Eren pressed his lips, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards, “I don’t think Jean would let me in.”

“Jean’s butthurt, but he’ll get over it, eventually. C’mon, let’s go!” Connie said, as the both of them dragged Eren along, but the latter stopped them.

“I don’t know guys, I think I’d be wiser to go to sleep.”

“Oh c’mon!” Connie complained, “Don’t be a bore! Just for a little while!”

“C’mon Eren, it’ll be just the five of us,” Sasha said, “No Hitch, no Boris, and especially no Floch.” At the mention of that name, all three of them wrinkled their noses.

“Ugh, I hate that guy!”

“Who doesn’t hate that guy… What about Marlo, though?” Eren asked, surprised they wouldn’t invite him, “He’s cool.”

“Yeah, he’s not bad. But he has an even bigger stick up his ass than you.” Connie said, implying that they did invite him and he refused.

“I don’t have a stick up my ass…” Eren grumbled. Connie started tapping his foot, and crossed his arms. “Are you coming then or not?”

Eren looked at the clock. Subtracting the time he needed to get to the forest, he still had more than two hours to spare until midnight. Truthfully, he had planned to spend those hours sleeping a little, but if he had to be honest with himself, there was no way he could ever fall asleep, now. He was too nervous about his first, official meeting with the Wings of Freedom. Not to count, the corcern of the possibility of being an Omega.

Spending some time with his friends might have been a good way to take his mind off those things. Finally, he gave in, “I guess I’ll come for a while.”

“Yay!” Both his friends cheered, as they dragged him outside his room.

 

* * *

 

 

Jean and Marco’s room wasn’t much different from his own. The only difference was that theirs was much smaller, especially considering they had to share it, and their beds didn’t have a canopy.

“We’re here, guys!” Sasha proudly announced as they entered.

“Finally, if you took longer we would’ve finished all the boose…” Jean cheerfulness disappeared, as soon as he saw Eren with them. With a grunt, he let his weight fall dead on the sofa.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… were you born to plague me?” He rubbed his temples, trying with all his might to repress the impulse of strangling the other boy.

“Don’t be a dick, Jean. Eren’s our friend too.” Connie said.

“I’m not friends with a lying hypocrite. You know I value honesty above all else.”

“Believe me Jean, I would gladly pass the Royal Knight position to you if I could.”

Jean bolted up from his seat, “Drop the fucking act! Just admit it, you like the luxuries of this palace, you like having people serving you, sleeping in a nice bed, eating good food and having nice clothes,” he gestured at the fine white suit he was wearing, “I bet that costed a fortune!”

Marco stepped between the two of them, to prevent them from going at each other’s throats, “Dude, get off his back. You know he couldn’t refuse!”

“Yes I could have.” After Eren statement, followed a sequence of four “what”. First Marco, then Sasha, then Connie, and lastly, the most surprised of them all: Jean.

“…What?”

“I could’ve said no. And I do enjoy those things, who wouldn’t enjoy that?”

“You admit it.” Jean’s eyes widened in disbelief. Did he really mean what he said? Or was Eren just saying what he wanted to hear?

“Yes. But that’s not why I’m here. If I refused, I would’ve ended up working in the fields. Being in the military means everything to me, I’ve sacrificed too much to get here.” The distance from Armin and Mikasa weighted on him everyday. Especially during his first times as a trainee, it had almost overwhelmed him. But he endured it, it was a pain he had learned to live with. Just like the pain from his mother’s death.

Jean crossed his arms, still reluctant to believe him, “What about the glory of Eldia, and all that bullcrap?”

Eren put his hands on his hips, and raising his chin he said, “Who says I can’t still fight for Eldia?”

“I don’t see how you could have done it in the Stationary Guards, let alone here.”

“You might be surprised.” Eren said, smiling enigmatically. Jean raised one of his eyebrows. His sceptical expression amused Eren and filled him with desire. He wished he could have told them about the Wings of Freedom. He couldn’t wait for them to see the great things they were going to achieve for their country. But for now, it had to stay a secret.

“Listen, Jean. I know things have never been smooth between us, but I think we could at least try to be friends.”

“You and I? Friends?” At first, Jean thought he wasn’t serious. But Eren’s unceasing eye contact told him he wasn’t lying.

“Well… you were honest. I can appreciate that.”

“So, friends?” Eren offered him his hand, and after a few istants, Jean took it.

“Friends.”

Sasha bared a devilishly smirk, “You guys are so fucking in love with each others.”  The two boys immediately let go of each other’s hands.

“Ew, no!”

“Gross!”

They both wiped their hands on the first thing they found, it being the sofa in Eren’s case and Connie’s shirt in Jean’s.

 

A few minutes later, they were sitting in a circle, eating, drinking and telling each others stories.

“So Eren, I’ve heard the Corporal Levi Ackerman will be mentoring you.” Marco said.

“Really? What’s he like in person?” Sasha asked, while shoving cookies in her mouth, “Because from what we’ve seen yesterday, he seems aloof and really intimidating.”

“Well, he is a little… unreadable. But he’s really cool, too.” Eren smiled fondly at the memory of the Corporal ruffling his hair. He wondered if he should have told them about his soft side, but he ultimately decided that no, that moment was his and only his to treasure.

“When I was a little kid, he was my hero. I remember big sister Frieda used to tell us stories about him.”

“Wait, Frieda? That’s the name of the Princess!” Marco exclaimed, “Eren, you know the Princess?!”

“Of course not, Frieda’s the girl who worked at the orphanage where me, Mikasa and Armin lived in. She was so kind and sweet, a bit clumsy but beautiful. I bet the Princess isn’t nearly as beautiful as her.”

“Speaking of the Princess, why do you guys think she hides behind that veil?” Sasha wondered, while yet again stuffing her mouth with more cookies.

“Maybe she’s got some skin condition?” Connie suggested.

“I’ve heard she’s so beautiful, her father’s afraid some foreign Prince will fall in love with her and take her away from Eldia, that’s why he forces her to wear it.” Marco said.

A very tipsy Jean voiced his opinion as well, “I bet she’s just ugly as sin and the King’s ashamed to have a daughter like that.”

“Jean, if someone hears you, you’ll be the one to become a headless bastard.” Eren warned him. In return, Jean threw an arm around his shoulder.

“Hey Eren, now that we’re friends, would you… introduce me to your sister?”

“To Mikasa?”

“Mikasa… what a looovely name…!”

“Jean, you’re drunk.”

“No for real, can you introduce me to her?”     

“Yeah, yeah.”

They spent most of the time just drinking, playing card games and chatting. Jean was already collapsed on the floor, while Eren had just one sip. He couldn’t afford to be drunk on his first official meeting, the others seemed to be distrustful of him enough, he didn’t need to give them another reason.

“Well, I need to go guys.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“I have training with the Corporal tomorrow, I should really get some sleep.”

This time, there wasn’t much protesting from the others, so after exchanging their goodnights, Eren returned to his room. Among the things he hadn’t noticed, was that all of his few belongings had been moved to his new room. He opened the wardrobe, threw on the dark green cloak that came with his trainee uniform, and went off to the forest.

 

* * *

 

 

When Levi arrived in front of the tree were he and Hanji usually met up, she was already there waiting.

“You’re here, let’s go.”

“We need to wait for Eren.” He informed her.

“Oh, right! Speaking of which… He’s cute, isn’t he?” She said, nudging him in the arm with her elbow.

“Who?”

Hanji threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, “What do you mean who! Eren, of course.”

“He smells like forest.” Levi said, indifferently.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. But then again, you’re an Alpha, and maybe you feel things that I don’t.”

Levi rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like Hanji had a good sense of what smelled bad and what smelled good, and that surely didn’t depend on her being a Beta. But he had to admit, the boy’s scent wasn’t that unpleasant. Although, it did evoke in him peculiar feelings, ones that he tried to suppress and hadn’t felt in years. Those really were unpleasant.

“He sure smells better than you.”

“Hey! I had a bath just a few days ago!”

Ignoring Hanji’s complaints, he glanced through the thick forest to see if he could catch a glimpse of Eren. Just a few istants, and he saw a hooded figure running towards them. As it approacched, they could both tell it was indeed Eren. Levi checked his pocket watch: it had just struck midnight. _Not bad_ , he thought.

“Corporal, Miss Hanji. Am I late?” Eren asked, out of breath.

“No Eren, you’re perfectly in time.” Hanji reassured him.

“Let’s go, we have no time to waste chatting.” Levi started going without waiting for the other two, who followed him immediately.

Not many words were exchanged on their way to the hidden, abandoned train. The wagon were they were holding their meeting, had a very dissimilar appearence to the one where Eren was kept the day before. The only things they had in common, was the lack of passengers seats. Unlike that one, which looked just as old and abandoned as it looked on the outside, the interior of this one looked good as new. The curtains and floor were clean, so were the chairs and the big round table at the center, where unopened battle plans and geographic charts lied. There were even a few shelves, were teacups and stoves were neatly arranged.

Since they had actually been the firsts to arrive, the three prepared everything. They closed the curtains shut, lighted the candles, disposed the battle plans on the table, and Levi even made some tea.

Not much time later, the others started to arrived. The lasts ones, right before the Commander, were Petra and Oluo. The latter wore a scornful expression as soon as he saw Eren.

“Tch. Why is this brat here, again?” He muttered to Petra, who in response elbowed him in the ribs and caused him to bite his tongue.

It wasn’t just Oluo. All of them – except for Hanji and the Corporal – were eyeing him with suspect and wariness, even Petra. Eren clutches his hand with the other, feeling sweat running down his temples. He wanted nothing more than to earn their trust and camaraderie, but how was he going to do that? What would it take for him, to make them understand that he was on their side? That his dreams were the same as theirs?

The Corporal, who was standing right next to him, senses his apprehension, and gave him a light pat on the back. Eren was almost startled by the sudden gesture. When he turned to look at the Corporal, he was looking straight ahead of him, with his usual unreadable expression. Nevertheless, Eren did feel a bit more relaxed. It was good to know that him of all people was on his side.

At last, the Commander finally showed up. With him, a woman dressed in a black cloak, whose face was covered by a black hood.

“As many of you know, the Princess will be joining us tonight.” He announced. Then, the woman next to him let her hood down . When familiar blue eyes and raven hair appeared in the candle light, Eren’s jaw almost hit the floor.

“Big sister Frieda?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sorry it's taking so long to actually get to the Ereri stuff. I honestly never thought it would take me this long to finally get to this point, but the next chapters will be when the story truly begins :D Like I said in the first chapter, good things come to those who wait :)
> 
> I sometimes do illustration for this story and my other ones, you can follow me on tumblr if you'd like to see them,   
> @l-leonhardt  
> My blog isn't spoiler free though, so if you wanna stay safe, you can check just this page once in a while ---> https://l-leonhardt.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, comments and constructive criticism would be highly appreaciated, and I hope to see you all next chapter ;)


	8. Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I made it! Sorry guys, just one or twp updates in a month are really not enough. Let's see if I can do better this month. I wanna write AT LEAST 3 by the end of May!  
> In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this one :)

 

If they had been hostile towards him before, now they were all looking at him with canine expressions. Hanji’s gaze darted from Eren to the Princess with the curious eye of a scientist, while the Corporal was looking at the boy with his eyebrows slightly raised. Hard to tell if they were raised in confusion or something else.

“Show some respect, you brat!” Erwin’s deep voice thundered, “It’s the Crown Princess you’re speaki-”

“EREEEEEEEEN!” his admonishment was interrupted by the cry of the Princess. To everyone’s great surprise, especially Eren’s, she sprinted towards the latter, threw her arms around him and locked him in the tightest of hugs. The Corporal looked at them with one raised eyebrow, while Hanji looked way to amused at the sudden turn of events.

“Ah, Eren! You don’t know how much I’ve missed you!!” She squeaked. Eren hugged her back as a mechanical reaction, the mixture of emotions had left him in almost a catatonic state. One million questions were rushing through the lad’s mind, but he was only able to give voice to one.

“Frieda, you… you’re in the Wings of Freedom too?”

“Yes dear,” releasing him from her hug, she turned around. She then pulled her dark hair up, showing him the overlapped wings tattoo on her nape, “See?”

The tattoo was smaller compared to the ones of the other members, but it still stood bright and proud on the back of her neck. Eren was speechless. He could have never imagined to see that tattoo on Frieda, out of all people. He didn’t know what surprised him more, finding out she was the Princess or that she was in the Wings of Freedom.

Except for the Corporal who was as unreadable as ever, everyone else were looking at one another with miens drenched in confusion.

“The little runt knows the Princess…?” Eld asked to his companions, who in return just shrugged as if to say _your guess is as good as mine._

“Of course he knows me,” she said, pulling away from Eren, “I basically raised him! You guys know I used to work in an orphanage.”

“Big sis you’re… all this time, you’ve…” Eren was so shocked, he couldn’t even put together a reasonable sentence. Luckily, Frieda came to his aid.

“I’m so sorry you had to find out like this. I owe you an explanation.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Princess.”

“Oh please! Keep calling me big sister! Or at least, just Frieda.”

She smiled widely, while pulling him into another hug.

“Aaah, I can’t believe how much you’ve grown in just three years!” She said excitedly, then pulled away to look at him from head to toe.

“You’re as tall as me now, look at you!” She put her hands on his arms, squeezing them lightly.

“Wow, look at these muscles you put on!” Eren’s cheeks were starting to heat up, and when he heard stifled laughs coming from the others, he wanted to dissappear. Not being trusted by them was awful, but being derided wasn’t much better.

“You used to be such a small little bean!” Frieda continued, while pinching his cheek.

“Frieda…!” Eren’s hushed tone was a request for her to stop. Still, Frieda kept rambling on how much he had changed and about how happy she was of seeing him again. All while the laughs of the other members grew louder and louder.

They had tried to suppress their hilarity, but it was a hard task. Watching Frieda and Eren was like watching a mother embarassing her teenage child.

The only one who didn’t even try to contain her hollering laughs was Hanji. Even the Corporal was smirking. Levi felt bad for the boy, but couldn’t help being amused at his embarrased pout and red tinted cheeks. What was that word that Hanji used before?

Cute. Yes, Eren was definitely cute.

“I was surprised you were able to keep your cool at the audience with my father,” Frieda said, while ruffling his hair. “I guess the military lifestyle has improved your temper a little bit.”

“Not really...” When Levi voiced his dissent, they all started laughing again, remembering his outburst the night before. Eren’s eyebrows furrowed, his pout grew wider as he gave Levi an annoyed look that screamed _betrayal_! Levi diverted his gaze, chuckling silently. The brunet looked like a puppy who just caught his master pretending to throw him a ball, while in reality he just hid it behind his back.

How could Eren be so endearing and deadly at the same time? Levi had seen him training once. The boy was merciless, untamed and wild. And now, he was looking like a betrayed little puppy.

To bring some order in that chaos of laughters and heart-warming reunions, the Commander Erwin Smith cleared his voice, grasping the attention of everyone.

“This is all very touching, but I’d like to remind you all that we’re here to discuss serious matters.” After the Commander’s cue, everyone turned silent and went to take their seats.

“We’ll talk later, okay?” Frieda said, giving Eren a light pat on the arm before going to take her seat next to Erwin. The air was now pregnant with a religious silence, no one dared to let out a single giggle, almost like nothing ever happened. The only lingering reminder of the previous atmosphere was Hanji, who was trying so hard to hold in her laughter that her face looked like it was about to explode. Petra and Eren eyed her with concern, while just Levi rolled his eyes.

“We’re here to discuss our next step in the liberation of Eldia. Some of you already know about it,” Erwin said, looking at Levi and Hanji who nodded in agreement. “The rest would know if we didn’t have a… little inconvenience during last meeting.”

Eren gulped. At Erwin’s last sentence, everyone turned to look at him with unfriendly glances. Last night after he got his tattoo, everyone was sent home and the meeting postponed. No matter how many times he had apologized the previous night, it seemed like they were going to hold that against him forever.

“Now it’s time all of us become aware of it. Before we kill Rod Reiss, there’s something essential we have to do: find the Lost Princess.”

At this statement, the room filled with surprised noises and people whispering perplexed questions to each others. Eren looked at everyone around him; Frieda, Erwin and Levi wore dead serious expressions, while everyone else was confused and Hanji looked weirdly amused. Did everyone else really not know about the King’s illegitimate daughter? Was that what yesterday’s meeting was supposed to be about?

Eren knew. He knew it before all of them. It had been the Corporal who had told him during the previous night, on their way back to the castle. But why? Why telling him before his trusted comrades, who he’s known for way longer than him? Eren turned to look at Levi, but he didn’t find any answer on the man’s impassive face.

“That’s my younger sister, Historia Reiss.” Frieda explained, but it didn’t seem to clear up any confusion. If anything, this raised even more questions.

“Well, half sister, actually. My father had her with one of our palace maids.”

“I mean no disrespect, Princess, but what does this have to do with our plan?” Petra asked.

“I’ll be happy to explain it in her place,” Erwin said, “We’ll kill the King, and then make Historia the Queen. Any questions?”

All of them had questions. But before anyone else could intervene, Eren did. “I do have one.”

Eren’s only question concerned Frieda. But how was he supposed to address her now? He never thought there would come a time when he had to question that. The situation was beyond absurd! Frieda was someone who had been so close to him, who had cared for him like a mother would. And now he didn’t know how to talk to her.

He knew she didn’t want him to call her ‘Princess’, but ‘big sister’ was a way to colloquial manner to refer to her, especially around the others that were just looking for an excuse to pick on him. So he opted for the least regrettable option. Calling her by her first name.

“Frieda, are you really okay with us killing your father?” he asked, eliciting annoyed groans from the people around him.

“Kid, leave your personal questions for later.” Erwin said.

“No, I do want to answer that,” Frieda intervened. “I can never say it enough times. So thank you, Eren.” She gave him a warm smile, but her eyes immediately clouded for what she had to say next.

“My father should have never agreed to the terms of the armistice. Eldia’s economy’s impoverishing fast, and who do you think is going to pay the price? The rich people? No, it’s the most innocent and vulnerable ones. The orphanage where I was working had to shut down.”

Eren’s eyes widened in shock as he shot up from his seat, “But what about Lars, and Isabelle, and Ben?! They were still so little when we left!”

Frieda opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the Commander slamming his fist on the table.

“That’s enough. If you two have things to talk about, do it in private,” he reproacched them, “I’m sure with Eren living in the castle, you will have many occasions to do so in the future. But right now, we have to talk about our mission.”

“You’re right, Commander. I’m sorry.” Frieda apologized meekly, while Eren clenched his fists and silently sat back down. The brunet knew he was the Commander, but he wished so much he could slam his face into the table right now. How dared he talk to Frieda, the Princess, in that manner? And she even apologized! If he was in her place, he would’ve had him beheaded.

Erwin then continued like nothing had happened, “By making Historia our Queen after the King’s fall, we’ll send a strong message to Marley. They’ll see we’re not willing to submit to them anymore.”

“I don’t understand,” Nanaba said, “Why don’t we just kill him right away and make Frieda the rightful Queen she is?”

“Yeah, she’s on our side,” Mike added, “What makes us sure that Historia will be?”

Then came Frieda’s answer, “Historia has something very important that I don’t. She’s an Omega.”

At the word Omega, the whole room erupted in a chorus of _Oh_. Everyone seemed so enlighted now, but it was Eren’s time to be confused.

“Now Eren, I will give you all the information I have about Historia, to help you track her down.” The ravenette took a photograph out of her pocket, and after giving it a wistful glance, she handed it to Eren. It portayed a younger Frieda with a little girl sitting in her lap. A blonde little girl with blue eyes and an uncanny resemblance to Frieda. She was dressed in pink silk and lace, not exactly what you would expect the daughter of a palace wench to look like.

“That’s me and her when she was only four. I’m sorry, that’s the most recent picture I have of her. When my father sent her away, she was ten and about 145cm tall. She presented as an Omega the year before, so I doubt she turned any taller than that. Although my father never officially acknowledged her as his daughter, Historia lived in the Palace like a little Princess. So, you may be able to gather information from the palace maids. I’ve tried it myself, but didn’t succed.”

Eren was starting to get nervous. If Frieda hadn’t been able to get infos out of her own palace maids, what made her think he might have been able to do it?

“Right now, there isn’t much the rest of us can do. We have to bet everything on you, Eren.” The Commander said, solemn. Everyone had their eyes set on him, full of expectations and without any forgiveness. If he failed this, there would have been no mercy for him.

Then a voice coming from his side snapped him out of the tense bubble he was in.

“Eren, you’re the only hope we have of finding the Lost Princess.” The Corporal said. The look in his eyes was firm, but there was something substancially different from all the others: their gentle strenght. And somehow, looking into those eyes clear as the sky of may, bestowed some of their own strenght into Eren’s emerald ones.

“Don’t forget that.” He added.

“I won’t,” Eren declared, once again shooting up from his seat, “You can all count on me! I’ll find her, I’ll find Princess Historia!”

 

* * *

 

 

The meeting finally came to an end, and it was time for Hanji and the others to head back to the military headquarters. While Levi, Eren and the Princess headed back to the palace.

“You two go ahead,” Levi told the other two, “I’ll stay a just few steps behind, so you can talk alone.”

Eren gave him a warm, thankful smile. The man really was soft hearted, after all. Under that armour of passive expressions and rough voice tones, lied a rare heart that only few could see.

“Thanks, Corporal.” Eren said, grateful. And after Frieda tweeted her _thank you_ , she and the brunet started walking, arms linked together.

“So, what happened to the other kids?” Eren asked.

“Don’t worry about them Eren, they all got adopted.” She reassured him with a wide smile.

“And as for the ones who were too old, I made sure they had a job before the orphanage closed. Although… I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for all the other children out there…” Frieda’s eyes clouded with sorrow.

“Don’t be sad, big sis! Think of all the children you’ve helped. Look at me, look at Armin and Mikasa. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.” He beamed, and Frieda seemed to cheer up, even if just a little.

“You have no idea of how much I wanted to join in when Mikasa came to hug you at the Ceremony! And Armin, I haven’t received any letters from him since the orphanage shut down. I miss the two of them so much.”

“I miss them too, big sis. But we’ll see them again, once this is all over. I know we will.”

After a few moments of silence, Eren decided to slip a question in their conversation. It was one she already answered, but he felt like there was something she didn’t tell.

“Frieda… can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“It’s about your father… if it doesn’t bother you, of course.”

“It’s okay Eren.” She said, giving him a reassuring squeeze on his arm.

“Are you really okay with us killing him? I know he’s doing awful things, but he’s still your father. Not that I would know anything about that…”

Frieda’s expression suddenly turned grave. Eren could see her jaw clench, and her eyebrows furrow in the feeble moonlight.

“My father’s already dead to me.” She declared, “I cannot forgive him for what he did to our people. But most of all, I cannot forgive him for taking my sister away from me. Historia was the only sister I had.” She finished her speach with a trembling voice. Angry tears mixed with sorrowful ones were quickly filling her eyes.

Eren knew what it meant to be separated from your siblings. Mikasa and Armin weren’t his siblings by blood, but the bond they shared was even deeper. They had shared food, roof, bed, joys and sorrows. Blood couldn’t compare with that. Just like his friends from the training corp. Their bond wasn’t as intense as the one he had with Armin and Mikasa, but each and everyone of them was precious to him. Even Jean. If someone was ever going to take any of them away from him, he would’ve been angry too. No, he would have been more than angry: He would’ve been murderous.

If he was in Frieda’s place, Rod Reiss would be long gone.

“You know, I didn’t even know she was my sister at first. I was eight years old when she was born. A few years later, she began living in the palace as one of my court ladies. She was still so little, and I started playing with her and teaching her all sort of things.”

“Like you did with all of us.” He said, remembering the old days in the orphanage.

“Yes, dear.” She said, affectionately stroking his hair. Although her cheeks were damp with tears, she smiled.

“Back then, I was unaware that the girl I loved like a little sister, actually was my little sister.”

“How did you find out?”

“My father didn’t tell me, for sure. I overheard a conversation between him and Alma, Historia’s mother, a few day after he sent Historia away. After that, Alma disappeared too. And from that day on, everyone in the Palace was instructed to act as if neither of them ever existed.”

“That’s… that’s horrible…”

“What kind of father takes your sister away from you?! What kind of father doesn’t even have to courage to tell you that you have a sister?!” Frieda started having a breakdown. She started sobbing and trembling, and Eren stopped to encircle his arms around her. For a little while, they stayed like that. The only sounds in the forest were the wind gently rustling through the leaves, the crickets and owls, and lastly, Frieda’s cries. Eren held her tight, grateful he could be the one helping her now. He knew this couldn’t have been easy for Frieda, no matter how much she hated her father, participating in his downfall was going to leave a permanent scar in her heart. A remorse she would carry her all her life. The brunet thought it was so unfair: The King didn’t have any remorse in doing everything that he did. So why should Frieda have any?

A few minutes passed, and after Frieda calmed down, they resumed their journey back to the Castle.

“They shouldered you with quite a task, didn’t they?” Frieda said, her voice soft.

“I’m strong enough to carry it, big sister.” He said, gallantly.

“I’ll be forever grateful to you if you could find my Historia…”

“I will, rest assure I will, if it is the last thing I do!” He spoke the words with confidence, not realizing his tone was slightly higher than the one he had been using until now. His brave words reached Levi, who had been standing a few meters behind them.

He had done it to leave them their privacy. But even without Eren’s loud tones, he couldn’t help overhearing bits and pieces of their conversation.  His senses were too sharp for him not to catch on some of what was being said. Why was Eren so eager to sacrifice his life for Eldia? The Corporal couldn’t wrap his head around that. All the members were prepared to die, but none of them was as willingly as Eren. The boy wouldn’t have esitated to jump right into a volcano, had someone told him it was for the sake of Eldia.

Levi silently shaked his head. This kid. He was only fifteen, he was young, handsome and talented. Life had nothing but great things in store for him. He couldn’ve easily obtained things like love, success and happiness, things everyone would strive for. Why did he want to throw it all away, for a country that never did anything for him?

 

Once they got to the Palace, they had to use the secret passagers to accompany Frieda back to her quarters. Once they did, Eren and Levi were alone again. The two of them didn’t have to worry about avoiding the Royal Guards. Were they to be sawn, they two could just say they were having trouble sleeping, and thus taking a walk around the Palace. The Corporal Levi Ackermann had notorious sleep problems, and Eren could use his nervousness for being the new Knight as an excuse.

On the night when Eren became a member of the Wings, a guard caught them while Levi was taking him back to his room. _The kid was nervous and I took him out for a walk_ , that’s how he had justified themself. Levi was so nonchalant and poised, that the Guard didn’t seem to have any problem believing him.

Eren was in awe. The boy always got so nervous when he lied, his ears turned red, his eyes looked anywhere but at the person he was lying to, and he often stuttered. But the Corporal was so confident, so reliant. Eren felt really lucky to have someone like him as his mentor, there was so much he could learn from him even just by observing what he did.

This time, the few guards they encountered didn’t question them. And luckily for Eren, none of his friends had nightshifts yet. After telling them he was going to sleep earlier, it wouldn’t have been fun to explain.

But, there was still one thought lingering inside Eren’s mind.

 “Corporal, I have one question about this plan…”

“What is it, kid?” Levi said, unimpressed. He was getting used to his questions.

“What does Historia being an Omega has to do with anything?”

“Do your research, Eren. I’ve already told you that. And try to get some rest.” With that, Levi left him for his own room. They had been walking silently for so long, Eren hadn’t realized they were already in front of his bedroom’s door.

He reluctantly enetered his room, and closed the door gently. The emptiness of his new accommodation still upset him. He wondered if Connie and Sasha had fallen asleep on the floor of Marco and Jean’s room, like the latter had done due to the alcohol. He kind of wished he could have stayed. Maybe they were still having their party and it wasn’t too late to join them, but right now he had other matters to take care of.

Do his research. How was he supposed to do that? He did had a small library in his room. Maybe those old tomes held the truth he was looking for. Eren scratched his head, looking at all the elegantly binded volumes neatly arranged on the shelves.

This was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Suddenly, finding Princess Historia didn’t seem such a hard task. Eren never, ever liked reading. If he did it for too long, his head started to hurt, and he rarely undestood what he was reading anyway. He much preferred action to books. That was Armin’s area.

The memory of the blond send a stab to Eren’s heart. He wondered what he was doing right now. How would his best friend take the news of him being the Royal Knight? Eren doubted the noble lad would’ve been mad at him. Armin was probably going to praise him and be happy for him, which for Eren was like a punch in the stomach. And it hurt more than the physical ones Mikasa gave him. She was never reluctant to hand his nonsense back to him, when she needed to. On the other hand, Armin always opted for a diplomatic approach. Eren sometimes felt like he didn’t deserve a friend like him.

Right now, the only thing he could do to ease his loneliness, was sitting at writing table to write him a letter, like he did in his training days at least once a week. And also, Armin might have been his only hope to get out of that mess.

_Dear Armin,_

_How are you doing? Are your studies proceeding well? I’ve just graduated. Not to brag, but I ranked first in the top ten. I also have another news…_

_What I’m about to tell you will surprise you. And I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was an hypocrite._

_I sure hope you get my letter before Mikasa’s, I bet she didn’t waste any time in writing the news to you, seeing how happy she was about it._

_The King choose me as the new Royal Guard. And I accepted._

_But I want you to know I didn’t accept for the privileges, or out of fear of retorsion. I don’t care about money and I don’t care about saving my sorry ass. All I care about is our country and our freedom. I think I might be able to change Eldia from the inside, even without stepping on the battlefield. Not that I would be scared to do so! You know I’m not scared._

_By the way, I need to ask you for a favor. Do you perhaps know what happened between King Tybur and King Reiss all those years ago? What happened a century ago? What was Marley’s lame excuse for starting this war? Why do they hate us so much?_

_If you could help me with this, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve asked the Corporal but he wouldn’t tell me. He just told me to do my research, but you know I get headaches if I read for too long. Oh, by the way, he’s going to train me. The Alpha Corporal Levi Ackerman, in the flesh! He’s just as cool as he was in all the stories Frieda told us when we were little. No, actually he’s even cooler in person!_

_I hope to hear from you soon, and that you can help me doing my homework._

_I’m counting on you, brother!_

_Eren_

 

Once he finished writing his letter, he went to slither under the cover of his bed, with all his clothes still on. And then, utterly exhausted, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi will start training Eren in the next chapter!  
> I hope to see you all next time ;)
> 
> Check out [My art](https://l-leonhardt.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art) on Tumblr


	9. Palace Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren has some troubles adjusting to his new life at the palace.  
> Meanwhile, he and the Corporal start growing closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I know, this chapter is unacceptably late. I am so sorry, I have no excuses. But if you wanna know, this is what happened: I had a few troubles with my computer, luckily I was able to save all my notes and drafts on my drive, and now I'm writing fics on my phone, which is kind of annoying since I have sausage fingers.
> 
> Technical difficulties aside, for some reason this chapter was also a bitch to write.  
> But it's here now! I really hope you're still reading.  
> If you are, thanks for the patience <3  
> Enjoy :)

  
The early rays of the morning sun were shining on the painted windows of the castle. Colourful plays of light were projected on the Palace's many corridors and rooms, where the new Royal Guards were preparing themselves for their duty.

Dressed in their new shiny blue uniforms, Jean and Connie were sliding cautiously through the corridor, their shoulder shaking from trying to hold in their laughs. An apprehension ridden Marco was walking right behind them.

“Guys, c’mon. Leave him alone…” for the umpteenth time, the tallest of the three boys tried to talk them out of it. But as always, his cue fell on deaf ears.

“Stop being such a party-pooper, Marco,” Jean said, annoyed. “And he's asking for it. He doesn’t get to sleep in just because he’s the Royal Knight.”

Marco did agree with them that Eren needed to be woken up, he just didn’t approve of the method they had chosen.

Connie seemed way to excited for the prank they were about to pull, “C’mon Marco, it’ll be fun!”

“Say that again when he bites your head off…”

Once in front of Eren's suite, Jean opened the door carefully, and the two stepped in. Marco stayed on the doorstep, once again uselessly trying to make them desist from their mischievous intents.

Connie tiptoed to the bed and leaned over Eren, his face merely a few inches away from the brunet’s ear.

“WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!”

Pillows and blankets flew in all direction as Eren flung his limbs around. He shot up in a fighting pose, studying his surroundings. Hollering laughs made him realized his attackers were just those two idiots of his friends. Although irritated, the boy’s muscles relaxed as went back to a sitting position.

“Are you guys fucking stupid…” he groaned, rubbing his sore eyes.

“I’m sorry Eren, I tried to stop them…” Marco apologized, even though the sight of Eren’s drowsy form and wild bed hair did induce mirth in him. Luckily, his ability to hold in his laughs was better than Jean and Connie’s.  
Poor Eren mumbled some incoherent words, then he laid back down on the mattress. Completely forgetting about his duties, the brunet hid his head under the pillow, trying to enter the dream realm again.  
An irritated Jean proceeded to give him a reality check. “No, you don’t get to go back to sleep, buddy.”

“Fuck off, horse face.” Was Eren's muffled response.

Jean grabbed him from the ankles and tried to pull him out of the bed, but Eren grabbed onto the headboard.

“Get up and get ready you suicidal prick!”

“Go eat a sugar cube!”

“Eren, Jean's right. You need to get ready. Don’t you remember? You have training with Corporal Levi this morning.”

At Marco's reminder, Eren immediately let go. With Jean still pulling at his feet, they both ended up on the floor.

“Ouch, you stupid idiot!”

“It’s your fault! Why did you let go all of a sudden?!” Jean whined, rubbing his sore backside.

A disoriented Marie, who had just arrived and was standing on the doorsill, watched the scene unfold and asked with a small voice, “What’s going on here?”

Eren raised on his feet, and after dusting his clothes off, he offered Jean a hand. But not without one of his usual remarks, “A horse escaped from the stable, that’s what’s going on.”

“Yeah, he needed to save a certain blockhead from certain death,” Jean said, accepting the brunet’s help, “And that moron's not even grateful about it.”

“I’m not sure I understand...” An even more puzzled Marie said. It was a weird friendship, the one of Jean and Eren. Watching it from the outside would easily cause confusion.

“Believe me, it’s better if you don’t.” Connie reassured her.  
Marco started heading for the door, prompting the others to do the same, “Let’s go now, guys. Eren needs to get ready.”

“See you at breakfast.” Connie said, waving his hand at Eren.

“Don’t be stupid, Connie. He's the Knight, he won’t eat with us.” Jean reminded him.

“Ah, right...”

The brunet wasn’t going to let them go that easily. Jean and Connie’s stupid prank actually made him really happy. Waking up to that, made him feel like nothing had really changed, and he prayed things stayed like that. Eating alone was something he never did and he wasn’t going to turn it into an habit now.

“Wait, guys! Why don’t you have breakfast here?” he proposed.

“Here in your room?”

"Yeah. Marie, you can bring breakfast for us here, right?”

Marie smiled politely, “Yes, sir.”

For Jean, it didn’t take long to make himself at home. “Well, if you insist, buddy.” He said, sprawling on the sofa.

“Hey, make room for us too!” Connie protested.

“With your permission, Sir.” Marie curtsied and started heading out, when Eren stopped her.

“Wait Marie, one last thing...” He walked up to his desk, to grab the letter he wrote to Armin the night before.

“Could you please mail this letter for me?” he asked, handing her the envelope.

“Sure thing, Sir.”

“Thank you very much, Marie.”  
And with another curtsy, she was gone.

 

After a quick shower an the annoying procedure of putting his armour on, Eren could finally enjoy breakfast with his friends.

 "Thanksfor not eating everything while I was showering and getting ready, guys.” He said, sitting between Connie and Marco.

Jean sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose, “But did you actually shower or did you just pretend to?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“It seems to me that you didn’t, and used cologne water to cover up the smell.”

“I don’t even own cologne.”

“Yeah right, you want me to believe that you, a simple beta, smell of bergamot, spices and musk on your own?”

Marco and Connie then interceded, giving out their opinions as well.

“He doesn’t smell like any of that to me. He doesn’t smell of anything.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t.”

“Thanks, guys...” He said, trying to mask his irritation. _What’s up with everyone sniffing me lately...?_ He thought. It was unsettling, and almost scary.

“That’s just because you two are betas. But I'm an Alpha, and my nose can sense the stench of wet dog beneath all that cologne.”

At the mention of secondary genders, Eren felt a chill run from the start of his neck to the end of his spine. It couldn’t be. Not Jean too.

"I told you, I don’t even own cologne! Y-You're probably just smelling my soap and shampoo,” He said, and to contain his nervousness, he made another one of his quirky remarks that were reserved only for Jean, “Some of us actually use them, Jean.”

He smirked and waited for the other's reaction. It wasn’t the first time Eren made fun of him for that. Jean always used to say that as an Alpha, he didn’t need to use soap. That his natural scent would get altered from it, and that his scent alone would attract more Omegas.

“If you did you wouldn’t smell like a wet dog in the middle of a forest.”

“What does a wet dog in a forest even smell like?!”

“He doesn’t smell bad, Jean. Stop being mean.” Marco intervened.

“Okay, I'll stop. But I still don’t buy it.”

“Feel free to do that. Doesn’t matter to me.” Except it did. Jean was an Alpha, like Mikasa. And he described his smell just the way she did.

“Anyway Eren, you’re lucky Sasha isn’t here, or else she would 've ate everything by now.” Connie said, trying to change the subject.

“Shouldn’t we invite her too?” Marco proposed. A loud and firm “NO!” was the collective answer.

  
  
***

 

In the main hall, the Corporal was already waiting for Eren. The latter walked up to him, and saluted respectfully. This made a few of the old guards smirk, since technically, Eren’s rank was higher than Corporal Levi's.

Still, all the time in the world wouldn’t have sufficed for Eren to get used to that fact.

“Good morning, Sir!” he said, enthusiastically. The brunet was excited to start his training, and even more that it was the Corporal training him.

“Eren. Are you ready?” Levi asked, without any emotion in particular.

“Sir, yes sir!” Eren’s ardour was in deep contrast to Levi’s apparent apathy.

“Then follow me.” He and a few other guards conduced him to the spacious armoury, where mentor and mentee were left alone once inside.

“Eager to start?”

“Sir, yes sir!”

“Don’t be. I'm gonna destroy you.”

As promised, by the end of the morning Eren was reduced to a panting, sweating mess.

“Go take a shower, and then it's lunch time. You'll eat with me and commander Erwin in the garden.” The Corporal informed him.

“Can’t I shower after lunch?” Showering sounded like such a drag in that moment. The armour was a pain in the ass to dismantle and reassemble. And Eren was so hungry, he just wanted to stuff his face until he exploded. He was sure not even Sasha could be able to compete.

“I’m not having you at my table stinking like that.”

“But I'm starving!”

“The sooner you’re clean, the sooner you eat.”

“How are you still as fresh as a daisy anyway?” Unlike Eren, who had struggled to keep up with the extra weight he was carrying, Levi had fought without breaking a sweat. Literally. Even after hours of practising, he still had that heavenly smell of lotus, cedar wood and fresh soap.

The Corporal smirked. “Brat, you were still shitting in your pants when I was training like you are now.”

 

***

  
After getting fresh and clean, Eren went to have his meal with the Corporal and the Commander. The latter was visiting the Castle to attend to a few matters, and would have departed immediately after lunch.  
As a Knight, Eren’s rank was too high to eat with his comrades at the Royal Guard's tables, but too low to eat with the Royals. Luckily, until the Corporal was there for his training, he could at least count on his company for lunch and dinner.  
Eren ate his meal voraciously, with the Corporal casting him glances halfway between distaste and worry.

“Easy, boy. You’re gonna get constipated if you eat like that.”

With a mumbled “sorry” Eren started eating more slowly, but he still ended up finishing everything on his plate much earlier than Levi and Erwin. He spent the rest of the time sitting there in silence, ruminating on things with the Corporal and the Commander’s small talk fading in the background of his thoughts.

Two weeks. Two whole weeks of training before he officially started his duty as the Royal Knight. And Nile Dok, the previous Knight, was already enjoying his retirement. There was no one fulfilling his role during Eren's training.

Something wasn’t adding up.

If the King was really in constant danger, so much to need a Knight by his side 24/7, the why were the new Royal Knights allowed to have two whole weeks for their training? Why was he allowing the Nile to retire so soon?

Unless.

“What’s with the frown?” the Corporal's voice snapped him back to reality.

“Huh?”

“You’re awfully quiet today. I didn’t take you for the silent type.” Erwin said.

“Got an indigestion already?”

“No, it's nothing sir.”

“Just spit it out already, Eren.” The Corporal didn’t seem to be a very patient person.

“I was just thinking...” Before continuing, Eren quickly glanced around to make sure no one was listening to them, then he continued in a lower tone of voice, “Does the King actually need a Knight? I mean, no one’s fulfilling the role during my training, and he doesn’t seem too concerned about it. Not to mention, he already has an entire military corps at his service.”

Erwin smirked and looked at Levi, “Oh, your pupil is clever, isn’t he?”

But Levi was as unimpressed as always, “Doesn’t take a genius to notice.”

Normally, Eren would've been hurt by the Corporal diminishing him, but he was right. Even a kid would notice this. The only reason why he hadn’t thought about it before, was because he usually didn’t think about Royal Knights at all.

“What’s the point of my role, then?” Eren asked, suppressing the increasing frustration he was feeling.

“I’m not supposed to tell you, but you know what'll happen at the end of your training?”

“What?” Eren was listening closely to the Corporal’s every word, feeling his heart beating in his throat.

“The King will make you fight. First with Nile, and then with me."

“But why?”

“To show off his new toy.” He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“And it won’t end there,” the Commander added, “Every time ambassadors and other important authorities from other countries come to visit the Palace, they make their own personal guards fight with the Knight.”

“So I'm basically just here for entertainment?” he stated, the sad reality settling in.

“Exactly.”

Eren had arrived to the Palace believing he would be a lackey. Turned out it was going to be much worst than that. He was nothing but a glorified personal toy. An instrument for rich people's entertainment. That’s all he was to those so-called noblemen.

He hated the Palace already.

But Eren wasn’t going to let his mood sink. That afternoon, he trained twice as hard. The King wanted the strongest? Good. He was going to get the strongest indeed. And that strong Knight he wanted so much as his lackey, was going to be the very same one to put an end to his miserable existence.  
Eren's renewed fire didn’t go unnoticed by Levi, whose fascination with the boy kept growing stronger.

 

That evening at dinner, Levi told him something that made Eren's heart swell with pride, “You did well today, Eren.”  
He treasured the compliment, but not without reminding himself to not let it get to his head.  
“Go to bed now. You have a lot of sleep to catch up on.”

  
***

  
Eren didn’t get much sleep that night. Not long before dawn, he woke up screaming. Slumber had brought him back to that day, for the first time in so long. To that dreadful day when his sweet, beloved mother was mercilessly killed before his eyes of powerless child. It was like reliving it all over again. Sitting on the cold, hard wooden floor, with his mother’s lifeless body in his arms, while her blood drenched his clothes.

But instead, he was sitting in the middle of his bed, among his soft pillows and silky covers. In the dark of the night, sweat ridden and alone.

His only companion was the disturbing and unfamiliar silence.

There were no comrades asking him if he was alright. No Connie cracking a joke to cheer him up. No Jean complaining about Eren ruining his precious sleep. He was completely alone. 

_I need some fresh air..._ He thought, scratching his head. His legs automatically dragged him out of his bed, out of his room.

  
Once he climbed on the Palace's tallest tower, he sat down on  the stony floor and stared at the horizont.The sun was still to rise, but the full moon shone enough light for him to see the line where the sky and the green hills touched.

What lied beyond Wall Sina was visible from there. As a little kid, there was nothing Eren wanted more, to see beyond the walls that embraced his hometown. But Wall Sina wasn’t Wall Maria.

Wall Maria was still too far. The ocean was still too far. He needed to remind himself constantly why he was doing all of this: Freedom. For himself, for his friends and for his people.

And most importantly, to get revenge for his mother.

“ _Schlaf, mein kind... Ich schwieg dich leise, schenke dir für deine reise eine Wolke Sternenstaub_...”

Eren singed softly to himself. His mother’s lullaby was the only thing that could calm him down. The last few days had been so stressful. The Palace, the Knighting Ceremony, the Wings of Freedom, Frieda... It had all been too much for him to process all at once. Just a few days before, he was training with his comrades like an ordinary aspiring soldier. And now, he was playing as a double agent for a secret organization set on the annihilation of the King.

“ _Sie soll dir leuchten in Der nacht, wenn ein Engel dich bewacht und Der Mond dich ruft_..”

“Didn’t I tell you to get some sleep, Eren?” The Corporal’s voice interrupted his lonely singing.

“Corporal Levi? What are you doing here?”

“Huh? I thought my insomnia was common knowledge among you recruits.” He said, sitting right next to Eren. The latter was taken aback by the sudden closeness. Not that they had never been close before, but that had been a necessity. It felt more intimate now.

“Well, a lot of things are…” he said, looking away.

“Not that I care what people say about me, but what kind of stories did you hear?”

“Good ones, of course! They talk really well of you!”

“Do they now? I wonder how many of those stories are true.”

“I do too...” Eren said, carefully.

When Frieda used to tell them those stories, Eren thought they were somewhat exaggerated. It had been Armin that planted the seed of doubt in him, but deep down Eren always knew that the hero of those tales was too good to be true. And their big sister Frieda was an outstanding storyteller.

Both Eren and Armin knew what she was really doing.

They were lost children who needed a guiding light, something that could make them feel protected and nurture in them a new hope. And what could be better than filling their heads with real stories of an Eldian hero?

But then he enlisted in the military, and he heard the exact same stories, all over again. His comrades didn’t even come close to being good storytellers like Frieda was, and still Eren enjoyed listening once more to those epic tales.

And it was then that he started wondering, could all of that have been true? Was Levi Ackerman really the noble Knight in shining armour of those stories?

Somewhere along the lines, some part of him started believing them to be true. Maybe, he needed to believe them. Because no matter how many times he told himself he wasn’t like the other orphans, no matter how much he believed that his own determination was the only guiding light he needed. Deep inside, he was just a lost, broken child. Like the rest of the children he grew up with.

“Then tell me. Let’s see if the versions correspond.”

Of all the things Levi could have said, that was the thing Eren expected the least. The Corporal actually wanted to share his true life stories with him?

It was an occasion he wouldn’t let go to waste.

And so Eren told Levi those stories in the exact same ways they had been told to him. The Corporal frowned and scoffed.

“Tch. As if I would’ve been able to do any of that without the help of my comrades.”

“But apart from that, they’re really true then?” He asked, eyes glimmering with expectations.

“So what if they are? Doesn't make me into someone to idolize.” He gave Eren his answer, refusing to look into the lad’s starry eyes. Looking at the horizont, he gave the boy an advice.

“Don’t ever idolize people, Eren. They will disappoint you." He stated, matter-of-factly.

“Well, I’m not disappointed…” Eren timidly admitted. His answer made the Corporal turn to look at him, wide eyed, lips slightly parted.

"Silly kid.” Ruffling Eren’s hair, he looked away.

He then got back on his feet, and prompted the brunet to do the same.

“C’mon now. You can still catch another couple of hours of sleep before we start training again.”

“Yes, sir!” Eren said in a playful tone, and Levi poked him on the shoulder.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally getting to the point I really want to write about, so next chapters should be more easy for me to write and they'll get here faster.  
> Once again, thank you all for the patience, thank you for the kudos and bookmarks, and thank you especially to all the new subscribers who still subscribed even though I haven't updated in almost three months. And of course, thank you old subscribers for not unsubscribing :)  
> Thank you :)
> 
> My [Tumblr](https://l-leonhardt.tumblr.com/) || [My Art](https://l-leonhardt.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art) || Instagram: lenore_leonhardt_358 || Twitter: Lenore_Leonhard || [Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/lleonhardt) ||
> 
> Check out my other Ereri fics
> 
> ||[With You In the Present](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17278910/chapters/40637072)  
> Reincarnation AU ||
> 
> || [I'll Keep you Safe, You'll Keep me Strong](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17518985/chapters/41270804), LiS: Before The Storm AU||

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for reading until here. I hope the first chapter caught your interest, and that you'll stick around for more.  
> Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated <3  
> Actually, any kind of comment would be appreciated (unless you're rude).  
> It will take another one or two more chapters to get to the Ereri stuff, but remember: good things come to those who wait! :)


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